


A Glamour of Truth

by PrincessCharming



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Angst, Backstory, Cool sword, F/F, Family Drama, Humor, Motherhood, Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-16
Updated: 2013-04-15
Packaged: 2017-11-25 19:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 39,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/641991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessCharming/pseuds/PrincessCharming
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After 2x10, Regina uses magic to show Emma the obvious truth. A tentative trust forms between them amid hilarious bickering. With Emma's help, Regina struggles to regain a place in her son's life... until Cora arrives, wanting her daughter back. </p>
<p>Pieces of Regina's past emerge showing that the board was set long before the game started. The final battle begins soon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

**A Glamour of Truth**

 

* * *

  
_"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact."_ \- Arthur Conan Doyle.

* * *

Emma was standing in line for groceries behind the person who'd tried to kill her.

She stopped dead in her tracks causing Mary Margaret to almost run into her with the shopping basket. They were at Tom's store picking up things for dinner and were just joining the checkout line when they saw her in front with her back to them.

It was Regina.

Hearing the gasp behind her, Regina turned and gave them a look of blank disdain.

"Relax. I'm not going to kill you in a grocery store."

Mary Margaret took Emma's arm nervously, casting her eyes around the nearly empty store. The last time they'd seen the former mayor they'd accused her of murder and she'd retaliated with magical force. If Regina was willing to use her powers now, it wasn't safe to confront her. Not without a plan at least. "Er, Emma maybe we should leave."

Emma met Regina's eyes with a hard glare. She wasn't willing to back down. "No."

"Yes, why don't you run along, Sheriff?" said Regina. "Haven't you got a murder to solve? Or are you too busy with false accusations and ignoring other evidence. After all, there's a murderer running loose in the town."

"There's a murderer standing right in front of me," said Emma heatedly. "I have evidence."

"Oh please, you got your eyewitness testimony from a dog," Regina mocked, rolling her eyes.

Emma shifted uncomfortably. She was still unfamiliar with magic and how it could be used to show or hide the truth. She had to admit that she would've preferred something more to go on than a dalmation's memories.

"No matter how open-minded you claim to be, Sheriff, you're just as prejudiced as everyone else in this town."

Mary Margaret shook her head with a rueful smile. "Come on, Regina. Your past-"

"Is in my past," interrupted Regina with a hiss, her eyes locked with Emma's. "For the 28 years before you showed up I've done nothing but attend PTC meetings and compile town budgets. Why yes, how evil of me."

"If it wasn't you, then who was it? Your evil twin? Oh wait, you are the evil one. How do you explain what Pongo saw? What Ruby saw?" said Emma.

Regina smirked. "Like this," she said, and flicked her wrist in front of her face with a flourish.

Regina was gone and in her place Emma was now faced with her own identical twin.

The fake Emma shook her long blonde curls back. When she spoke it was with Regina's low velvety voice. "See? It's a glamour. Simple piece of magic really."

"Fine, I get it. Now change back, Regina."

Emma saw her double pretend to consider it. It was certainly odd to see Regina's expressions on her own face.

"Hrm, no. I think I'll keep this face for a while. Now that mine is wanted for murder it might come in handy."

Emma exchanged a worried glance with Mary Margaret but the other woman didn't seem surprised by the glamour trick. Regina was right, the blonde realised – if she'd wanted to kill Archie it was well within her abilities to do so without getting caught. She could use magic to masquerade as anyone. And why would she do it so heavy-handedly, leaving the body there to be found? It didn't add up.

"But you did have an argument with him at the docks. You were angry that he betrayed you."

The Emma double's face turned stony. "Yes, I did argue with Dr Hopper as I'm sure your wolf friend told you. But if I killed every person I had an argument with there certainly wouldn't be any of those moronic council members left."

"I don't doubt that she can cover her tracks…," Mary Margaret said to Emma before glancing at the disguised woman. "But subtly was never her style."

"People change, dear." The fake Emma swiped her hand in front of her face and Regina appeared once more.

"You're dangerous," said Emma. "I may not be able to arrest you, but I can stop you from seeing Henry."

A crack finally appeared in Regina's disdainful mask and the broken woman from yesterday peeked through. "I'd never hurt Henry."

"I can't take that chance."

"Please, Emma, this ridiculous tug-of-war has to stop. We can't keep fighting over him," said Regina, somewhat softer.

"Oh yeah? Wasn't that what I was saying last year when you were trying to keep me from seeing him? You just don't like the game now that you're losing."

"Hey, what's taking you guys so long – Mom?" Henry ran up to them clutching a comic book. His face immediately fell seeing Regina.

The poor kid looked miserably confused, like he wasn't sure whether to run to his Mom or away from her. His best friend had died and he'd had to hear from one of his mothers that the other one was responsible for it, had committed cold-blooded murder. Believing that his mother was the Evil Queen in some distant land was a far cry from the reality he was confronted with. All he wanted was to be told it wasn't true.

"You lied to me. You said you wanted to change." Henry voice was wobbly and it made the adults' hearts break for him.

Regina's eyes filled with tears. "Henry-" she stopped, the words evaporating in her mouth. She wanted to comfort him and tell him everything was going to be ok even though his friend was dead. She wanted to tell him she was innocent. But she didn't want to confuse him by contradicting everything Emma had no doubt told him about her. He wouldn't believe her over his hero, Emma.

"I don't want to see you anymore," mumbled the boy.

Tears broke their barriers and rolled down Regina's cheeks. She nodded, clenching her jaw against the emotions that were burning in her throat. "Okay."

Mary Margaret put an arm around the young boy and set her shopping basket on the floor. "Let's go wait outside, Henry. You can show me your new comic book," she whispered gently.

When they were gone, Emma stepped up close to Regina mere inches away from her face and stared determinedly at the brunette.

"Tell me something to make me think you didn't do it."

Regina swallowed hard with the effort of maintaining their staring contest.

"I have nothing left. My son-" her voice cracked.

"Tell me why you didn't kill Archie."

"I told him things about myself. Things I didn't want anyone to know. He said he could help with my pain."

Emma grabbed Regina's shoulders as though to shake sense into her. "What do you know of pain but the pain and suffering you caused yourself!"

"I know enough," said Regina thickly. "You're supposed to be the saviour. You're supposed to save everyone. No-one ever stood up for me, no-one has ever protected _me_."

Realisation dawned over Emma's face. There was only one person Regina was truly afraid of, only one person she wanted saving from. "You know who did it don't you?"

Regina quickly shook her head. "No, no."

"You think it was your mother. You think she found another way and made it here to Storybrooke."

Emma pressed backwards, breathing heavily. She propped her hands on her hips. "Ok, this is what's gonna happen. First, you're gonna let me do the dreamcatcher on you. And if you're telling the truth and Cora's really here you have to help me protect Henry. You have magic. We need you on our side."

"I can't defeat her," Regina warned dully.

"Let me worry about that. I'm the saviour."

The corners of Regina's mouth turned up slightly. Emma was certainly wearing the badge confidently these days.

"You won't need a dreamcatcher."

Emma felt Regina's fingertips on her temples and was immediately assaulted by a series of jumbled images.

_She saw Regina leaving the party, barely making it to the end of Main Street before the tears started falling._

_There was a young girl pleading with her father, begging him as he turned away from her with a pained face resigned to fate._

_Then there was Regina, in riding clothes and hair in a long braid, staring brokenly at the dirt floor inside the stables._

_Regina, her hollow gaze fixed on the ceiling as a man old enough to be her father moved above her and called her by his dead wife's name._

Regina. Again and again. The torrent of memories flooded uncontrollably into Emma's mind. Until the memory of last night. And the spell was broken.

Emma inhaled shakily from what she'd just seen. "You didn't do it."

Regina clenched her jaw tightly. "You saw everything? I couldn't control which memories you saw."

"I won't tell anyone," said Emma softly, taking Regina's hand.

Regina bit her lips, feeling vulnerable under the scrutiny. She hated that Emma had seen her past, the blonde now knew what everyone else knew.

"I'll tell Henry it wasn't you that killed Archie. I'll make it right," promised Emma. "But you are seriously on your last chance here. You can't let your Mom or Gold or anyone try to manipulate you anymore. You have to trust me."

Regina nodded, accepting the promise.

"I'm glad it wasn't you. But now I'm terrified cos it means there's someone out there who's worse," Emma joked weakly, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Regina rolled her eyes and gave her a look. "You're infuriating you know that."

"Yeah, but I'm kinda getting into this whole saviour thing." Emma bent over to retrieve the shopping basket Mary Margaret abandoned earlier.

Regina took a bag of fruit from her own basket and transferred it to Emma's. "Make sure Henry eats something that didn't come from a cardboard box, please."

Emma's sigh turned into a laugh. "Regina? I'm going to save you if it's the last thing I do."


	2. Chapter 2

**Glamour of Truth 2**

 

_Regina, need u 2 come over here ASAP._

Emma pressed send on her phone and prayed that the former mayor would respond quickly to the message.

Henry had been behaving like a little hellion all afternoon and she didn't know what to do. He'd been sullen and quiet since hearing she'd been wrong about Regina playing a part in Archie's death. But when Emma tried to comfort him, he shrugged her off and stomped upstairs. Every time she went up to him he yelled at her to go away.

"Is he okay, Emma?" Mary Margaret asked worriedly, glancing upstairs. She nursed a cup of tea at the dining table.

Emma rolled her eyes and threw up her hands in frustration as she slumped into the opposite chair. "I don't know. I've called for backup."

God, this parenting thing was impossible. Henry was a great kid normally. He'd idolised her from the start. Admittedly she'd only ever seen him in 'fun mode', taking him for ice-cream and playing spy games with walkie-talkies. Now it seemed Henry was less enthused that her new role involved laying down the law. He was also grieving over his best friend and she didn't know how to help him.

"Do you know what to do with him? You're a schoolteacher; you deal with kids all day long."

"Yeah but I normally distract them until it's time to send them back to their parents," said Mary Margaret with a tilted smile. "And my 'child' is a bit old for temper tantrums now."

"Don't be too sure about that," growled Emma. Her nerves were frayed from worrying about Henry and the new threat in town and from seeing the look on Regina's face when she-

"Is Regina coming?"

"Hasn't replied." Emma checked her phone again.

Mary Margaret took a hesitant breath preparing for what she was about to say. "Emma, maybe you should've used the dreamcatcher on her. What if it's another trick? I mean, how do you-"

"No." Emma shook her head firmly. "I don't need to. Henry believes in her and that's all I need to know."

"Of course he wants to believe in her. She's his mother," said Mary Margaret gently.

"Yeah well, so am I. Remember what happened the last time I didn't believe him? He ate poison."

Emma rubbed her hand over her face tiredly. She hadn't believed in her son when he needed her to the most and she vowed to not make that mistake again. Even Regina trusted Henry implicitly, restoring the portal seconds before Emma and Mary Margaret came through just because Henry asked her to. It was insane because _of course_ it was going to be Cora, except that it hadn't been.

Emma had seen plenty of other memories through Regina's eyes the other day at the store. Including things the blonde was damn sure the former mayor wouldn't have wanted her to know. Her crimes were not limited to only the distant past.

A clambering came down the stairs and then Henry appeared, wearing his backpack and making a determined beeline for the apartment door. Emma made a grab for his elbow on the way.

"Hey, kid! Where are you going?"

Henry ignored her so Emma leapt up and blocked the door before he could open it.

"You can't go out by yourself. It's not safe."

"I'm going to see Mom," said Henry, staring behind her at the door.

"Yeah well, kid, you can't go alone. Anyway, your Mom's probably on her way here right now. I just texted her."

"I don't believe you," said Henry, stubbornly.

"What, now everything I say is a lie? Come on, kid, I explained to you what happened."

Seeing as how Emma clearly wasn't going to let him leave, Henry dumped his backpack and sat down at the table, frowning crossly.

Mary Margaret reached her arm across the table towards him. "Henry, it's going to be okay."

"No it's not," he said, angrily. When Emma sat next to him he edged away and wouldn't look at her. His mom was supposed to be the saviour, she was supposed to break the curse and then everything was going to be fine. Now, nothing was.

"Kid, I know you're sad about what happened to Archie. But I'm gonna figure it out, I promise."

Emma felt uneasy about reassuring her son that everything was going to be ok... because it clearly was not. But it was up to her now, as his mother, to make him feel safe. She felt like she was doing a pretty crappy job of it right now.

"When's my Mom getting here?" Henry mumbled, with his chin resting on his hand.

"I dunno, Henry. She didn't say." Not _exactly_ a lie, Emma thought.

Henry got up and went to lie face down on the couch staring blankly into space.

Mary Margaret and Emma were exchanging helpless looks when the apartment door opened and David came in.

"Hey, guess who I found skulking around the stables?" David gave the two women in his life a sardonic smile.

Following him into the small apartment with a stiff apprehensive posture was Regina. She was dressed more casually than Emma had ever seen her, wearing a sky blue riding jacket over fitted black pants that disappeared into black leather boots. Without the usual power suit and killer heels, Emma had never realised before how short the brunette actually was. Her overbearing and insufferably imperious demeanor always made her seem taller somehow.

"I got your message." Regina spoke to Emma in a more subdued tone than usual.

"Right, yeah," Emma nodded too fast. "Thanks for, you know, reading it."

The awkward tension was so thick in the air it would've been funny any other time.

"I went to the stables to check on the horses," explained Regina, quickly locating Henry with her eyes and wringing her hands a little. "The caretaker called me; he said they were badly spooked last week."

The adults in the room shared worried looks, realising what Regina warned of but didn't want to say with Henry in the room. Something wasn't right in Storybrooke.

David grabbed Mary Margaret's hand and pulled her up from the table.

"David, wha-?"

"Let's go for a walk, shall we? A romantic stroll in the moonlight." David's tone hinted to Mary Margaret that they make themselves scarce.

"Oh, right! We're just going to-" she trailed off, switched her eyes back-n-forth between Regina and Emma. One of them was avoiding eye contact like the plague and the other was giving her death glares.

"Go count the stars." Mary Margaret finished and hastily escaped with David arm-in-arm.

_Traitors_ , Emma grumbled to herself after her parents were gone. They'd actually left her there to deal with both heartbroken members of the Mills family by herself.

"Henry? Your mom's here," Emma called to the boy since he had yet to move or look up.

Emma was waiting for Henry to run to his mother or her to go to him, but neither of them did. Regina was obviously reluctant to make the first move, unsure if Henry wanted to see her. Her heart clenched painfully reminding her of the last time she'd seen him so depressed, when he was sitting in Dr Hopper's office devastated that she thought he was crazy.

"I missed you," came a small voice.

That was all it took for Regina. She went over to sit next to his small form on the couch and lifted her son's head into her lap.

"I've missed you too, Henry," said Regina, choked up but trying not to cry for her son's sake. "I'm sorry about Archie."

"It's not fair."

"I know, dear," said Regina. "It isn't fair to lose someone you love."

"It makes me feel angry," Henry said in a small voice, as though he was afraid to admit it. At only 11 though, he was a veteran of therapy and Archie had taught him well about handling his feelings.

Regina sighed self-consciously, aware that Emma was still standing by hearing every word.

"Sometimes it's easier to feel angry than sad."

Emma thought that was the understatement of the century, given what Regina herself had done in the name of her grief. Regina had raised Henry his whole life and kids learned everything from their parents didn't they? Maybe he'd picked up his inability to deal with overwhelming loss from her.

"He was helping you…and now he's gone." Henry finally turned to look up at her.

"You're worried about me?" asked Regina, gently stroking his dark hair. With shame, the brunette realised that her son was worried about her relapsing into her evil ways. There was nothing she could say to reassure him, she was definitely not going to burden him by saying her only reason for wanting to change was because of him.

"Hey, kid," said Emma softly, crouching down beside them. "Let me worry about your mom alright?"

The blonde shook Henry's shoulder playfully trying to get a smile out of him. "You still think I'm the saviour don't you? Well, it's my job to make sure your mom's behaving herself."

The look Regina gave Emma could've turned her to stone.

"Henry, why don't you go look in my handbag. I have something for you," said Regina.

Finally showing some energy, Henry got up and retrieved the bag from where it hung on the back of the chair. He pulled out a plastic-wrapped comic book and gaped in surprise.

"But they sold out! How'd you get this?"

"I got it for you when I saw it the other day, just in case. I didn't want you to miss out." Regina smiled at her son.

Henry ran off and threw himself onto Mary Margaret's bed and began tearing at the plastic. Regina knew that it wouldn't fix anything, but it was a start, and maybe losing himself in fiction for a while would give Henry a distraction from his pain.

"Nice job, Regina," snarked Emma, standing and turning away. "Do you fix everything by buying him stuff?"

Stung by the barb, Regina rolled her eyes and got up to leave. Was her every gesture to be misunderstood?

"Wait, don't go. I uh," Emma's breathed heavily with nerves as she faced the brunette. "I'm sorry. You were great with him. It's just that, um I wasn't… and he's been acting up and I didn't know what to do… so I called you…"

Emma covered her face with her hands and groaned. "I have no idea what I'm doing."

Regina decided to take pity on the blonde and let her in on the not-so-secret. "No parent does. And most of us get a chance to grow into it."

"Right," muttered Emma, wondering if it was another crack about her abandoning her son at birth.

Regina peered searchingly into Emma's face. "Henry picked up on your anger, Emma."

"What?" spat Emma in disgust.

"You still blame me for everything," stated Regina. "Mostly you're angry because you gave him up so that someone would give him a better chance than you could yourself. But it's harder than it looks isn't it?"

Emma sighed. She'd been wrong about which of his parents Henry'd been emulating lately. Regina didn't pack the kid off to therapy for years because he was great at dealing with stuff. She just wanted him to have help. It wouldn't help him to refuse to let Regina see him.

To Emma's horror, recall of another parental duty floated into her head.

"Er, Regina, does Henry know about, you know, s-e-x?" Emma spelled out the word in a hush trying to sound nonchalant. She really wasn't ready to have _that_ conversation with him.

"He has an age-appropriate knowledge of the subject, yes. Why?" Regina's eyes narrowed at the blonde in suspicion.

"The other day we kinda walked in on Mary Margaret and David..."

"Are you trying to traumatise me as well as my son?"

Emma enjoyed seeing the priceless expression on Regina's face. "I guess it's what they mean by 'Happily Ever After' huh?"

"Oh God, stop. Before I get images in my head."

After a beat of silence, Emma decided to ask something that had been bothering her. She checked first that Henry was still absorbed in the comic book.

"Sooo, your mom. She's pretty powerful huh. Just how screwed are we?"

"Immensely."

"Rumpelstiltzskin defeated her once before though, right? If we can manage to convince him to be on our side..."

Regina's lips twisted in a knowing smile. "My mother tells it differently. Have you never wondered how Mr Gold got his limp?"

Henry suddenly appeared at her side and eagerly filled in the story, apparently he had been listening.

"When the miller's daughter guessed Rumpelstiltzskin's name he was so angry he put his foot through the ground!"

Emma was amused by that, having forgotten that part. "So, it was her then? Cora really won the battle?"

"Emma." Regina chided her with a wicked grin. "Haven't you learned by now? There's always more to the story."


	3. Chapter 3

"Where the hell were you today?"

Emma was at the foot of the tree that'd been placed in the perfect green expanse of the mansion's back lawn. She watched as Regina, standing atop a small stepladder, ignored her and continued to carefully prune away at the lower branches.

"Wait, is this your apple tree? How'd you get it here from town hall?" Emma asked.

"Magic," Regina intoned patronisingly. If she'd left it at her former office no doubt it would've been burned to the ground by some idiotic townsperson.

"You're doing magic again."

Regina sighed in annoyance. "You make it sound like I'm a junkie."

"Yeah well, I've seen you off your face on power and it's not pretty. And you know what else junkies do? They let down the people they love."

Regina swallowed hard and inspected the stump where Emma'd lopped off a branch with a chainsaw. Now that her magic was back the tree was growing nicely.

"Archie's funeral was this morning. You should've been there, if not for yourself then for Henry."

"I don't do funerals."

"Oh, you don't 'do' funerals? Well, do you do parenting? Because I thought the whole point of this parenting thing was that you shelve your own stuff for the sake of the kid."

"How is he?" asked Regina in a softer tone.

"He's fine," said Emma. "Apart from the whole 'best friend getting murdered' thing. Oh and worrying about his mother going into hiding. He really needed you there to support him."

"I don't deal with death very well," Regina said with a tight grimace.

"Except when you're dealing it out?" Emma scoffed.

The shot was right on target and Regina's eyes flashed with anger. "Why do you always have to bring up my past?"

Emma threw her arms out in a wild gesture and the words burst out of her. "Because I want to see if you've got a shred of humanity in you, that you're not a complete and total sociopath. I need to know if you even have the tiniest bit of regret."

"I don't," said Regina, with as a dark and angry expression as Emma had ever seen.

"Bullshit," cried Emma. "I don't believe you."

Emma yanked Regina off the two steps and back to ground so they were level and got right up in her face.

"You know what I think? I think you weren't always like this. I think you were abused and let down by the people you loved over and over again. You pleaded and it didn't stop. You wished and nobody came. Not a single person has ever stood up for you, or even tried to see things from your perspective… _But I'm here now_. I'm trying to help you and you're fighting me every step of the way!"

"This is who I am."

"No, it's not," said Emma, fiercely. "You don't have to be. You think I don't know what it's like to have people judge you by your past even when you're trying to change?"

Regina shook her head in disbelief and went to step away when Emma grabbed her wrists to keep them locked eye to eye.

"You know what Henry asked me the other day? He asked me what it said about him that you'd done all these horrible things and he still loved you."

Emma saw hurt startle across Regina's face and knew she was on the right track.

"That's how you feel about your Mom isn't it?" pressed Emma, but she wasn't being gentle.

"All those years you were powerless against her and as soon as you got power of your own you used it to be free of her because you couldn't stand up to her. No-one could. Your father just stood by and let it all happen and even Daniel couldn't-"

The sound of a slap cracked the air and Emma felt the sting on her cheek.

Regina backed away in shock. She was hyperventilating and the colour had drained completely out of her face. Her apology was immediate and came out as a ragged sob, choked by tears. "I'm sorry."

Emma surveyed the damage she'd caused, breathily heavily. She'd pushed and pushed and finally found what she'd been looking for. Humanity screamed at her from this broken woman's form. But hurting her hadn't given the blonde any pleasure.

"Okay."

Emma paced slowly, trying to calm down and given them both a rest from the intensity of the fight. They'd fought like this before many times, but now they didn't have the luxury of walking away. Regina was trying to change and it was going to be hard, and this 'one step forwards two steps back' routine was going drive her mad with frustration. But she'd be there when Regina screwed up again … and the time after that she'd be there as well. As long as Regina kept trying so would she.

"I need you to tell me everything about your mother's magic. You said she's more powerful than you?"

Regina nodded, still a little shaken. "I can use magic I've been taught or spells created by others… but creativity is an act of love and I've hated magic since I was a child. My mother is powerful because she's creative with magic. She loves it."

"And we can't rely on Gold to help us unless it suits him. He taught her magic - why?"

"I don't know. My mother always said it was part of the deal."

"What deal? What'd she give him in return," asked Emma, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. As a bounty hunter she'd had plenty of experience getting reluctant and evasive people to talk.

"She never said."

Realisation dawned on Emma. "It was you, wasn't it?"

Regina denied it forcefully. "No."

"Yes! Rumpelstiltzskin gave the miller's daughter magic in exchange for her child. Cora broke the deal to keep you so she thinks it gives her the right to control you and own you. All magic comes with a price… and you paid hers."

Regina sighed, absorbing the information not for the first time. Her mother had always been possessive over her, convinced that she was doing what was best for her daughter. And now it seemed her mother was trying to frame her and turn everyone against her.

"Why is she doing this to me?" asked Regina.

"I don't know. We don't even know for certain that Cora's here," said Emma.

Regina frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, didn't you bring over a whole mob of fairytale characters? They can't have all been good. Maybe someone else has magic now and's running around with a grudge." Emma shrugged.

"You do realise I can kill you where you stand?" Regina had lost count of every time she'd been tempted to do just that to the infuriating blonde and now Emma made her sound like some dinky cartoon villain.

"Yeah yeah, you're a badass. Now how do we find Cora?"

"How did you find her before?" asked Regina, referring to Emma and Mary Margaret's stint in the other land.

Emma explained how they walked straight into a trap and then how Cora had killed most of the remaining people there by taking their hearts. Her last encounter with the witch before jumping into the portal nagged at her memory.

"I need to tell you something that happened in Fairytale Land."

"You sang 'It's a small world' and threw up on Space Mountain?"

"Cute." Emma gave her a sarcastic smile and then turned serious again. "Before we went through the portal Cora tried to take my heart."

Now alarmed, Regina glanced at Emma's chest and back to her face as though trying to determine if Emma was under Cora's control. "Did she-?"

"No, it was like, stuck or something, she couldn't take it out. And then she got blasted back by magic."

Regina stared at the blonde in wonder and something like admiration. "You used magic against her."

Emma took a deep breath. "I want you to try to take my heart."

"No," said Regina flatly. "I could take it and use it to control you - or worse. Think about what you're asking. You can't trust me."

"I know you don't trust yourself - or me. So show me that I can trust you."

Regina sighed in resignation. "We may both regret this."

Regina stepped in close to Emma and placed her hand flat on the other woman's chest, feeling the heart that was beating wildly underneath, betraying her nervousness. The beat began to thump loudly in the brunette's ears and her eyes fluttered closed. Her palm slipped into Emma's chest as easily as through water.

It felt nothing like the intrusion of Cora's hand thrusting inside her, intending to rip away her heart. Emma felt something like a caress and a gentle tug before the sensation slipped away and the tingling in her fingers and toes disappeared.

Emma blinked as if coming out of a trance.

"What happened?"

With a groan, Regina picked herself up from the grass where she'd landed a clear ten feet away. "I couldn't take your heart, even if I wanted to. You threw me back with magic."

Emma let out a laugh before she could stop herself and then clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Fine. We're even now."

Emma frowned. "Even? You landed on grass! I've still got bruises on my ass from you tossing me onto the pavement."

"I suppose I should be grateful you didn't accidentally set me on fire."

"Yeah well, I still can," offered Emma.

Emma's heart-rate returned to normal from the relief that her risk had paid off. She felt certain that if Mary Margaret or David or anyone else was here they'd think she was insane for offering her heart on a platter to the former Evil Queen. She knew her heart was safe now.

After a while, Regina broke the silence. "I want to see my son."

Emma nodded. "Archie's wake is on later today. After you pulled your disappearing act this morning Henry sent me to find you and bring you back with me."

"How did he know you would find me?"

At Emma's smirk Regina realised her mistake and sent the blonde a murderous glare.

"I will always-"

"If you finish that line I will seriously kill you."


	4. Chapter 4

"Take the deal, Regina," Mary Margaret said through gritted teeth.

"No."

"You have nothing to lose. You're in jail. I'm just trying to help you."

"My answer's still no."

"Come on, Regina. This has gone on long enough. Take the deal," said David, deciding to try his hand at persuading the reluctant brunette. His wife and their former enemy were locked in a fierce glaring contest and as history showed this would not end well.

"I'm sorry but your terms are unacceptable," said Regina simply.

Mary Margaret tilted her head and squinted at her opponent, sizing her up. "Okay. New deal. I'll give you two reds, a 'Get out of jail free' card and three hundred dollars for your railroad."

"And let you have control of all the railroads? I don't think so." Regina smirked. She was sitting like a queen at the head of the table with a rainbow of properties and fat piles of banknotes in front of her.

Emma shared a suffering look with David across the dining table in Mary Margaret's apartment. How in the hell did they let themselves get talked into this? In hindsight, when Henry had begged them all to play Monopoly she should've said Hell no. But the kid had twisted her arm reminding her that she'd missed his birthday last month. " _Technically you've missed ten birthdays so now you owe me ten presents"_ , he'd said. Kid was gonna collect on all those favours too, she thought darkly. That kind of twisty manipulation was classic politician and she knew exactly who to blame for teaching him _that_.

"Ooookay, who's turn is it next?" said Emma, cutting off the negotiations before Mary Margaret tried to mortgage her actual apartment.

"Mine." David quickly rolled the dice and counted out the squares with his token. He sighed seeing where it ended up.

Regina smiled beatifically at him. "Oh dear, you've landed on one of mine. Park Place with a hotel... that's $1500."

"I guess I'm out," said David, sounding not too sorry to be out of the game. He handed over all his (mortgaged) properties and meagre supply of cash over to Regina.

"I told you Mom likes to win," Henry piped up.

"Better be careful, Regina. With all those properties we might start confusing you for Mr Gold," said David.

"Except that she won't make any deals," grumbled Mary Margaret.

Henry crinkled his face. "This game is taking forever. Is it always this long?"

"Yeah, pretty much, kid." Emma laughed, and trying not to sound too hopeful she asked him, "You wanna stop?"

"Yeah, kinda. Ava and Nick said they were gonna go for a bike ride. Can I go, Mom?" said Henry.

Emma checked Regina, and as always the brunette had stiffened slightly at her son calling someone else by that name. Both of them silently evaluated the request, while waiting for the other to say no. It was a parental stalemate and neither of them wanted to be the fun police.

"Your bike's not here, kid," said Emma.

"Yes it is." Regina was quick to contradict her.

And sure enough, they all saw the boy's BMX propped up against the wall near the apartment door where it definitely hadn't been a few minutes ago.

"Cool! Thanks Mom!" Henry jumped up and went for the bike.

"Hey, hey kid, wait," started Emma, getting up to follow.

Henry furrowed a brow, surprised that Emma would rescind permission when his 'strict Mom' had already given approval. But all Emma did was shove her phone into the back pocket of his jeans.

"Call your Mom's phone if you need us, okay?"

"Got it." Henry beamed happily and grabbed his bike by the handlebars. "Bye Mary Margaret, bye David, bye Moms!"

As he headed out the door, Regina hissed at Emma. "Helmet."

"Oh, right." Emma swung herself by the jamb and called out to the leaving figure. "Henry, don't forget to wear your helmet!"

Emma sighed, glad to see Henry so willing for once to spend time with kids his own age. When she'd first got to Storybrooke Regina had told her that he didn't have any friends. Emma was a bit apprehensive about letting him out by himself with everything that had happened but she didn't want to make him feel unsafe. She didn't want to discourage his steps towards being a normal kid.

Emma rejoined the others at the table where Mary Margaret was handing out cups of tea and David was re-boxing the game. Without Henry, there was no buffer for the adults and the atmosphere could quickly descend into awkward tension. Mary Margaret and David especially were still understandably wary of Regina but they were making an effort for Henry and Emma's sake.

Regina, however, was a completely different story. She relished every opportunity to rile them up.

"So Henry calls you both 'Mom' now? How do you know which one he's talking to?" asked Mary Margaret, tilting her head with a sly look.

"Well, it's usually kinda obvious," started Emma.

"Yes. For example, when he wants something he knows he shouldn't have he asks Emma," said Regina.

"Hey I'm not a pushover!"

"Emma, you let him have cheesecake for breakfast the other day."

"Well cheese has, um, calcium... and that's kinda like milk, right?"

Mary Margaret put a hand over her face and groaned. "Oh Emma..."

"What?! That was like once... and he was all sad and stuff ...and I couldn't ignore his little pleading face."

"He played you, Emma," said David, hiding a laugh.

Emma caught Regina's grinning face and leaned in. "Hey don't you go agreeing with them. He gets that from you. Your son is a master manipulator."

Regina raised a perfect eyebrow. "Oh, he's my son now?"

"Yes! When he's being all... smart and irritating. Wonder who he gets that from."

A rapid knocking came from the apartment door.

"It's open!" called Mary Margaret.

With the three of them ganging up on her and grinning at her parenting faux pas Emma was grateful for the interruption. Before she could get up to open the door Ruby burst through.

"Emma! You need to come quick," said Ruby, wringing her hands. Her eyes darted around nervously as she pulled on the Sheriff's arm.

"Ruby, slow down. What's wrong?"

"There's someone here in Storybrooke. She came to the diner. She ripped a guy's heart out!"

Emma and Regina exchanged panicked looks and the blonde felt the dread settle in her stomach like lead. What they'd been fearing was true.

"Cora's here," said Mary Margaret breathlessly. "She found a way."

David put an arm around his wife protectively and drew her to him.

"Where is she now?" Emma asked.

"In the street, outside the diner. She's asking for you," said Ruby.

Emma clenched her jaw tightly. "I'm gonna need a sword."

"No, not you, Emma." Ruby looked over the blonde's shoulder at Regina. "She told me to give you this."

Ruby held up a single long-stem rose, dried with age, and handed it to Regina.

Only Regina knew the significance of it as she took the rose between her fingers. It was very old but she recognised it as the exact flower she'd laid in her mother's coffin 28 years ago. She looked down at its ominous presence and contemplated what it's reappearance in her life meant - was it a gift or a warning?

"Guys, there's something else..." said Ruby, in a voice that told them they weren't going like what she had to say next.

The four of them tensed, waiting to be told the worst of what they already feared.

"She's got Henry."


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

  
_"The best revenge is not to be like your enemy"_ \- Marcus Aurelius

* * *

Emma stalked out of the bedroom stripped down to her tanktop and holsters, sword sheathed at her side. On the way through the kitchen she grabbed a blade from the counter and tucked it into her boot for good measure.

"Emma, you'll freeze in that," said Mary Margaret. Worry etched the pixie-haired woman's face.

"I'm going after her."

"Emma, you can't go after Cora unprepared."

"I need to get Henry back."

"You're gonna need more than a kitchen knife, Emma," growled David.

"She has my son!"

Emma knew they were right though. She paced, trying to control her panicky breathing while looking back-n-forth between her parents. They'd taken on evil and won countless times, they had to know what to do. She was the saviour of this story and she had to play by the rules.

"Henry says that Good always wins. So tell me what it is you do. How do you defeat evil?"

David shrugged one shoulder. "You just know. In the moment, it comes to you."

"That's it?" Emma cried helplessly.

The blonde was starting to lose it and Mary Margaret tried to pull her daughter into a hug. But comforting Emma sometimes was like pulling air into your arms, she slipped through your fingers the harder you tried.

"We need Gold. He's faced her before," said Emma.

Ruby shook her head. "He's gone. Belle said something about a potion so that he could cross the town line."

Since the former fairytale characters were determined to be useless Emma would have to figure this out herself. Henry trusted her to make everything ok... What the hell made her make such a promise anyway? Damn the kid and his childish hero-worship. She felt the walls closing in on her, suffocating under the responsibility of so many people relying on her and expecting her to fulfill her role. Her son. Her parents. The town and... oh God, _Regina._ If Emma was the saviour, then Henry was her salvation. Regina's precarious commitment to change hung on the love of her young son.

There was only one thing standing between Regina and the Evil Queen...and now he was gone.

Emma felt the change when Regina crushed the dried rose head with her fist and the dust fell to the floor. She rushed forward to grab the brunette's shoulders and forced her to look at her. Her heart dropped into her stomach at what she saw. The tenuous hold that Regina had on her worst self was failing.

"Regina, don't do this! You have to be strong for Henry. I can save him. But I need your help."

Regina didn't answer, a hard look in her eyes as misty purple tendrils began to swirl around her feet.

"Regina!" screamed Emma.

Realising what was about to happen, Emma reached for the other woman's arm and was pulled in as they disappeared into the smoke.

A second later when Emma opened her eyes she saw that Regina had transported them both to the street outside Granny's diner.

They were alone.

"Where is she?" said Regina.

"I don't know," Emma replied grimly, surveying the empty street.

It was only early afternoon and the sun still shone brightly. There should've been people around. Strangely, ever since the curse had broken the Storybrookers had gone on with their lives as normal, paying little attention to the arrival of magic and the new threat. It was like they'd collectively decided this wasn't their story and they weren't going to get messed up in it.

" _I'm disappointed in you, Regina."_

The two women whirled around at the sound of the honeyed voice coming from behind. It was Cora, swathed in purple brocade silk, with Henry at her side, her arm resting gently on his shoulder.

"The curse to end all curses was broken by a simple kiss? You should've come to me. I could've helped you..."

"Instead, you tried to kill me," Cora smiled with fake kindness.

"Let him go, Cora," ordered Emma.

"Oh but I was just getting to know my grandson. It's a shame we're only now being introduced."

"Henry, come here," said Emma firmly.

Cora didn't have to try to stop him. The boy stood impassively at her side, not moving or saying anything.

Emma glared under a determined brow. She drew her sword from its sheath and took a step towards Cora. She stopped suddenly in her tracks when Regina grasped her arm.

Regina inhaled sharply. "Don't. She took his heart."

Emma gaped in horror at what this woman had done to a defenceless child. Even Regina wouldn't harm the child she hated let alone the one she loved. At least she'd deferred her murderous revenge... Snow's heart had been safe in her chest until adulthood.

Henry's heart wasn't safe, Emma realised. He didn't have the protection she had. He wasn't the product of true love.

"So this is the woman you share a son with," mused Cora. "The saviour herself. How strange this world is."

Regina bit her lip, trying not to let the moisture in her eyes betray her. "I have a life here, Mother. I don't need you anymore."

Cora gave a short laugh, as though humoured. "And yet you are still so weak, Regina. Sometimes I look at you and wonder where I went wrong."

Regina shook with rage she could barely control. "You make me crazy."

"I'm only doing this because I care about you. I know what's best for you. I'm your mother."

"Regina," warned Emma, not taking her eyes off the simpering woman for a second. "You know what she's trying to do. Don't let her get in your head."

"Please. Give my son his heart back," Regina begged her mother, terrified of what she might do if it happened again...

Cora pursed her lips, appearing to consider it. From thin air she produced in her hand a small round heart that pulsed brightly with glowing light.

"Do you really love him, Regina? How can you love a child that isn't even yours? You tried once before."

"He is my son," whispered Regina in a low gravelly voice.

"I thought he belonged to the saviour? She could leave with him across the town line at any moment and he'd never be yours again."

"You're wrong," said Emma fiercely. "He's a child, not a possession. I don't care what deals you made... having a child doesn't mean you get to own them for the rest of their life."

"How little you know about being a mother," sneered Cora.

Emma deflected the barb with a twist of her lips. "Guess it's good I've got Regina then."

"You know, it's strange because my daughter always said she would never have any children."

Regina hoped that Henry wasn't aware of what was going on. Her voice wavered as she said: "People change."

"Do they?" said Cora. It wasn't a question and her point lingered in the air.

Cora removed her hand from the precious organ which then floated down, sinking back into its rightful place in Henry's chest. Immediately, his eyes regained their focus and he realised where he was.

"Henry!"

The boy bolted straight for Emma but it was Regina who grabbed him and hid him behind her body. Regina pressed her side against the blonde's and they formed a two-person shield but she knew it wouldn't be enough against magic.

"Henry, you okay kid?" asked Emma urgently, gripping the hilt of her sword and keeping her eye on Cora.

The two women heard their son stage-whisper behind them. "Ask her what she wants. Evil loves to talk."

"What do you want, Cora?" called Emma.

"You'll find out soon enough... once my daughter joins me."

Emma shook her head with a one-sided smile. "Not gonna happen."

"We'll see," said Cora musically, lifting her chin giving the saviour a once-over.

Then with an expert flourish Cora waved her arm in front of her and disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

The three of them breathed simultaneous sighs of relief. Henry catapulted himself roughly into Emma's arms. After he'd detangled himself the young boy squinted up at Regina sadly.

"So it's true. You really didn't want me."

Emma shot an alarmed look at the brunette and jumped in. Their son had been conscious the whole time and she worried about him hearing that, but she was more worried about the effect of the words on Regina's state of mind.

"Henry, no. Don't listen to Cora. People say that all the time before they -"

"No. I didn't want children," Regina admitted quietly.

"Regina," hissed Emma. "How can you tell him that."

"I'm not going to lie to him anymore," said the brunette, eyes flashing.

Regina knelt in front of her son and grabbed both his hands. "Henry. I know this is hard to understand. You know I was married in the other land..."

Henry nodded. "You were married to the King. Snow's father."

"Yes. He told me..." Regina looking down as though she were about to change her mind. "The King told me he would not allow another child. He wanted me to focus on Snow."

Emma closed her eyes, groaning inwardly at how the details that'd been left out of the story just kept getting worse. Regina's past was filled with horrors upon her more subtle than those she'd enacted. Forced into marriage to be mother to the child who had destroyed her life and not even the hope of having a child of her own. Dread sunk into Emma's stomach as she contemplated what the king did to ensure that didn't happen.

Henry brightened. "So when you came here you realised you could have a child of your own and got me!"

Regina shook her head with sad smile. "No, Henry. That wasn't it."

"Mr Gold came to me. He said he'd been given a child and asked me if I would please consider adopting. It was part of the deal."

"You made a _deal_ for him." Emma ground out in anger, clutching Henry's shoulder protectively.

"It was payment for the curse," said Regina before switching back to her son. "When I got you, Henry... I didn't know what to do with you. But I came to love you..."

"That's why I need to go after Cora."

"What!" "No!" Henry and Emma cried in unison.

"She destroys everything I love. She could come after you again. Besides, like my mother always says... I owe her," Regina finished with bitter darkness.

Emma grasped the brunette's arm and locked their eyes, knowing what the other woman was thinking.

"Regina. Your best revenge is to _not be like her_."

The words cracked the carapace of Regina's rancor and the former Evil Queen bit back the sob that threatened to escape out of her. On the day Daniel died all doors to her hopes and dreams slammed shut in her face. Once she got to Storybrooke it was 18 years before she adopted a child. She didn't want to be a mother because she was afraid of _becoming_ her mother.

When David and Mary Margaret approached at a breathless jog, Regina turned to hide her ashen face and recover her composure. Emma quickly filled them in on what'd happened, leaving out half the story. Getting Henry back was all that mattered.

"So what's Cora up to next? Should we be worried?" David asked with a nervous chuckle.

Henry gave the adults a confused smile. "You mean, you guys don't know?"

At their silence, he explained. "She'll be hidden away plotting revenge. The baddie always makes the plan from the Evil Lair."

"I hardly think Cora's the type to have a lair, kid," said Emma.

Henry gave her a look in return for her sarcasm. "Duh, every baddie has a lair. Didn't you have an Evil Lair, Mom?"

"It was a castle, actually," said Regina, wryly.

Mary Margaret squinted at her. " _My_ castle."

"Wait, where did you live if Regina kicked you out?" Emma asked Mary Margaret. Hadn't they visited the place where her nursery had been?

"The Summer Palace."

Emma raised an incredulous eyebrow. "You had a _spare_ castle? Of course you did."

Henry decided it was time to get them back on track. "Anyways, Evil knows it has to be really careful making a plan... because no matter what they do Good always finds a way."

"You're a smart boy, Henry," said David, ruffling the young boy's hair.

Regina rolled her eyes at their blind faith in Good always managing to prevail. "How you people ever get anything done is beyond me."

"Exactly," said Henry, full of mischief. "Evil never thinks it can be defeated but it always is."

Emma laughed at the expression on Regina's face and adopted her most immature voice.

"Yeah Mom, your curse _sucked_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special bonus points if you can spot the two very vague allusions to the musical/book Wicked. If you haven't seen/read it, it's a revisionist version of the Wizard of Oz that provides the backstory to the Wicked Witch of the West and explains the motivations behind her wickedness. Remember dears, there was a door to Oz in Jefferson's hat...


	6. Chapter 6

Archie was alive but Emma wasn't so sure that was such a great thing.

The psychiatrist had turned up alive having been freed from an invisible pirate ship where he'd been held captive and tortured for information by Cora and Hook. The characteristically humble man had been touched to hear about his lovely funeral being attended by so many of the people he'd devoted his life to helping. At least here in Storybrooke he could do that in a non-six legged form.

Everyone was shocked and relieved that he was alive of course. Henry had been ecstatic to see his best friend and had hardly left the man alone since... but for Emma?

This was the second time as Sheriff that she'd investigated a suspect for murdering someone who wasn't actually _dead_.

And that meant apologising to Regina.

There was a distinct possibility that the blonde was going to lose a limb or two. Hopefully Regina would let her choose which ones but it wasn't likely. Like a coward she'd gotten Henry to text the news and dragged her feet home from work early hoping to buy a little more time. If she could just avoid-

"Emma, why haven't you apologised to Regina yet?"

Damnit _,_ Emma cursed to herself. Mary Margaret was home already.

Mary Margaret hadn't been a parent for long but she already had the disapproving tone down pat. The pixie-haired woman usually fought the temptation to mother her same-age daughter. It was weird and they were still getting used to their new-found relationship... but sometimes Emma was a real brat. Like now.

Emma sighed in annoyance. "I'm gonna do it, alright."

"The longer you leave it the worse it's going to be."

Emma mumbled a curse at the empty aphorism.

"What was that? I can ground you, you know," teased Mary Margaret.

"I'd like to see you try," Emma muttered in a way that warned 'others have tried and failed'.

Mary Margaret gave her a perceptive look and softened her tone. "Seriously. Why haven't you apologised?"

"Why haven't _you_ apologised?" countered Emma. "You guys suspected Regina from the start."

"Because I've given up trying to apologise to Regina for anything. You haven't. You two have a son together... you need to try to build a relationship that works. For Henry's sake. For _both_ your sakes."

And then she got kicked out of the apartment.

Emma reluctantly dragged herself over to Regina's mansion and let herself in. As usual the place was quiet as a tomb and perfection gleamed from every surface. Emma searched the upstairs rooms until she found the former mayor lying on her side on Henry's small bed. Regina heard her enter before she could say anything.

"I didn't give you permission to break into my house, Sheriff Swan."

Oh great. The Mayor was back.

"Nobody gives burglars permission," sassed Emma. "I borrowed Henry's key. What am I gonna do- arrest myself?"

"Well you do make a habit of arresting innocent people."

Emma scoffed and crossed her arms. "You're hardly innocent. Except, you know, in this particular case. About that, I'm-"

"I'm in no mood for your apologies, Ms Swan. Just go."

"Are you sick?" Emma frowned, noting the balled up tissues in the brunette's hand and the box of Tylenol on Henry's nightstand.

Regina ignored the question.

"Oh. The Evil Queen has bitchin' PMS. That explains so much."

"Shut up," snapped Regina. "I have a headache."

"You were supposed to pick up Henry from school," stressed Emma.

"I called Ms Blanchard. David took him to the park," Regina said indifferently.

"What. the. hell. Regina," Emma was getting increasingly angry and went around the other side of the bed. "Have you been sitting around all day feeling sorry for yourself?"

Regina sat up too quickly and tiredly rubbed a hand over her eyes. Of course she'd been stuck in the house, she couldn't go anywhere without the stares and the whispers. "I'm _sick_ of trying! No matter what I do nothing is enough."

"Newsflash, Regina, it's not easy doing the right thing. I get that you've been through a lot... but that doesn't absolve you from all the stuff you've done."

"So I'm to be punished for the rest of my life?"

"Probably! This _is_ your punishment - to be suspected and feared everywhere you go. You know why? Because nobody can tell the difference between whether you've changed or if you're just biding your time. They look curiously similar. You're just gonna have to live with it. Cos redemption is like the horizon, you keep trying... but you're never gonna get there."

"You're really selling this to me," said Regina sarcastically.

"If not for yourself, then do it for Henry."

"I almost lost my son because you were wrong," said Regina angrily. "He was _scared_ of me."

"Who isn't scared of you! You're terrifying."

Regina was right though and that was the cornerstone of Emma's guilt. She had screwed up. She'd neglected her instincts and gone after Regina for the murder; she'd been so blinded by protecting her son she couldn't see the obvious truth. What'd happened to her supposed superpower anyway?

"You fought like hell to keep Henry in your life and now you don't wanna see him?" said Emma, completely confused.

"He doesn't want to come home."

The brunette got up off the bed and began smoothing down the bedspread and adjusting the pillows.

"Regina," sighed Emma. "Look, I know we have some logistics to work out here... but you can still see him."

"I can't stand being there with you... and your mother," spat Regina.

Emma shook her head wearily. "They're moving out anyway. Something about a fresh start... and turrets."

But it was the wrong thing to say and Regina got up and stalked out of the bedroom, heading down the stairs.

"God, it just kills you to see them happy doesn't it..." cried Emma.

No response.

"...What the hell is wrong with you-"

"...Would you just stop please, and talk to me?!"

Emma reached for Regina's upper arm but the brunette shrugged her away and whirled around with a glare.

"What." said Regina irritably.

"Maybe you should see Dr Hopper then if you don't wanna talk to me," said Emma, a bit more gently. Although, considering what'd happened she doubted Regina would go anywhere near the guy again.

"You and your damn hero complex," sneered Regina. "Stop trying to save me."

Emma took a breath and exhaled slowly trying to get a hold on her flaring temper. She gripped the banister tightly and slipped off the bottom of the staircase so they were level.

"Look," she said, out of breath from arguing. "We've been - I mean, maybe we just need some time away from each other."

Regina swallowed hard. "But we can't avoid each other. We have Henry-"

"Right. We'll make it work," said Emma quickly.

Regina's face fell and her eyebrows knitted. "Emma, I don't want you to-"

Whatever she was about to say was cutoff by a commotion outside the front door.

"Moooom?" It was Henry calling and it sounded like David and Mary Margaret were with him. Realising the door was unlocked, the boy came in trailed by the others, oblivious to the tense scene they'd walked in on.

"Hey Mom, what's for dinner?" Henry asked. He was definitely referring to Regina asking that.

"You want to have dinner here?" asked Regina out of surprise, her composure still rattled.

"Of course," said Henry happily shrugging.

"Lasagna. There should be enough for everyone," said Regina, awkwardly eyeing the other adults.

Mary Margaret summed up the situation shrewdly and was quick to reassure her. "Oh no! Don't worry about us. David and I are going to look at a house and then we have dinner reservations."

"Hey," said Emma. "Were you ever gonna tell me that? Or were you just gonna let me fend for myself."

"You won't starve," Mary Margaret teased lightly. "You're old enough to open the box of Poptarts yourself now."

"We have to go," said David, checking his watch. "Sorry to dump the kids on you and run, Regina."

"Hey!" "I'm not a kid" said Emma and Henry in perfecting timing.

Mary Margaret looped her arm through David's and dragged him out the door, making sure on her way out to give Emma a telling look that said either 'behave' or 'good luck'. Once they were gone Emma and Regina were left standing in the foyer, self-consciously avoiding the other's eye contact.

"Dinner won't be ready for a while..." started Regina.

"Yeah, Emma! Come up to my room. I gotta show you something!" said Henry, pulling at her hand.

"Oh kid, I can't stay," Emma glanced quickly at Regina. "I forgot I uh, I have to work. Night shift patrols."

"Come on, Mom, pleeease," begged Henry.

"Don't whinge, Henry," Regina chastised and dusted off his clothes that were dirtied from the playground. "Why don't you go upstairs and change."

Henry sighed and trudged upstairs grumbling all the way.

"He's got uh, all his stuff here so... I'll come by and take him to school tomorrow," offered Emma, nodding awkwardly.

As the blonde turned to go she heard Regina call her name. "Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't have to go," said Regina softly, but the blonde wasn't sure if she meant that or was merely being polite.

"No, I uh, I think I should... I should go, I mean." Emma bit her lips and closed her eyes, inwardly herself for sounding so nervous and obvious.

"Of course." Regina put on a tight smile.

"Okay. No problem," Emma said with false brightness. "Have a good time with Henry."


	7. Chapter 7

"Ow, Regina! What are you doing?!"

"Your hair is caught. Stand still," ordered Regina, trying to free the blonde locks that were tangled in the zip of Emma's dress.

They were stopped outside the gate of the school where they'd agreed to meet before their appointment. Since the curse had broken and the children now remembered their past-life identities, the school Principal had decided to hold parent-teacher interviews to make sure the kids were doing ok. In addition, all students had moved up a grade for the first time in 28 years, a fact which amused/horrified Emma greatly and she said to Regina:

"Wait, the kids were stuck in the same grade all this time? Except Henry, who kept moving up?"

"I suppose."

"Regina. Didn't you think one day Henry'd notice that his mom wasn't getting any older? How were you gonna explain that? Eventually he would've overtaken you!"

"Stop being ridiculous," snapped Regina in annoyance. She could see this line of questioning was going to lead to the blonde asking her how old she actually was and she was not amused.

Emma caught a glimpse of metal blades and was quick to panic. "Hey, are those scissors? Don't cut my hair!-"

"You'd rather I cut the dress? Pity you're not wearing that tragic red jacket."

Emma let out a frustrated growl. "Why do we have to dress up for this anyway?"

"Because it's Henry's new teacher and we need to make a good impression," answered Regina, finally freeing the zip.

"Why? He can't fail _us_."

Regina walked away rolling her eyes with Emma trailing behind. The blonde was obviously being sarcastic but her referring to them as an "us" had unsettled Regina and that alone was annoying. Regina knew they were both here for Henry but she worried her lip slightly at what the teachers and parents were going to think at their turning up together.

Inside the school building Regina noticed Emma dragging her feet like a child.

"Hurry up, what's wrong with you?"

"I hate school," muttered Emma.

"Well, it's obvious you've never spent much time in one," said Regina loftily.

"Like you can talk. As if you ever went to school," said Emma, referring to Regina's Fairytale Land upbringing.

Regina was a bit offended by the slight. "Excuse me? I had a comprehensive education. My mother had me tutored at home."

Emma scoffed. "In what? Eye of newt and toe of frog?"

Their appointment with Henry's teacher wasn't until 3:45 so they had to wait outside the classroom. Emma's restless fidgeting and bouncing her knee was driving Regina mad but the blonde ignored all the glares and pointed looks directed at her. Finally, they were called by a charismatic-looking middle-aged man wearing an extremely loud shirt.

"Ms Mills? Ms Swan? Hi, I'm Pip Hamelin, Henry's fifth grade teacher. Follow me?" He smiled kindly and led them into the classroom, gesturing that they be seated. Two chairs waited across from the teacher's desk in front of the blackboard.

"Relax, Ms Swan. This isn't detention," chuckled Hamelin, trying to put her at ease as the three took their seats.

"Right. Sooo, how's Henry doing?" asked Emma nervously.

"Very well. He's bright, intelligent, very well-mannered... It's a pleasure to have him in my class."

Regina nodded with some pride. "Yes, Henry excels in academics."

"So, what're his best subjects?" asked Emma.

"All of them quite frankly," said Mr Hamelin, smiling and shrugging. The teacher retrieved some of Henry's work from the pile on the desk and handed it over.

Emma looked a bit surprised and the honest relief showed on her face. "Really? He's doing ok though? I mean, with spelling and writing and stuff?"

"Yes, he seems very interested in creative writing..."

Regina listened as Mr Hamelin and Emma continued to discuss Henry's abilities and interests in detail. She'd heard it all before of course. But she was pleasantly surprised by the amount of interest Emma was showing and the questions she was asking.

Regina glanced over one of Henry's stories _A Lesser Evil_ : a fairytale of good people who do bad deeds, and she sighed at the obvious symbolism and how her son was trying to rationalise his mother's past. He was a sweet boy; her heart ached that she would never be worthy of him.

"There is one area in which Henry seems to need some guidance…," said Mr Hamelin, giving them a serious look. They waited for him to elaborate.

"Henry has difficulties making friends his own age. And although he got an excellent report from Ms Blanchard last year... his unexplained absences are troubling. How are things at home?"

Regina put on her best politician face. "Everything's fine, Mr Hamelin."

There was a beat of silence. Emma wasn't going to contradict her even though it was such a lie - there was in fact _a lot_ going on at home. They'd hardly had a normal day since the curse had broken. Kid's family situation was a mess too, given that particular family members had tried (or still were trying) to kill certain others...

"Yeah look, we'll help him out with the friends thing," said Emma in an offhand manner. How exactly they would do that she didn't know, since neither of his parents was a good role model in that area.

"Great! Well I guess that's it then. If you'd like to follow me out," suggested Mr Hamelin politely.

The teacher held the door for them and they said their goodbyes. "Henry's a credit to the school. I don't suppose there's any siblings on their way?"

Regina looked horrified. "Excuse me?"

Emma tried to keep a straight face. "Once was enough. It's her turn."

When they were out of earshot in the hallway, Regina pulled Emma aside and hissed at her. "What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to start rumours about us?"

Emma just gave her an 'are you kidding me' look. "I don't care what people think."

Regina shook her head slowly, amazed. "You are infuriating sometimes."

"Guess I just have that effect on you." Emma grinned. "I do it to distract you... you know, from the path of evil."

Regina closed her eyes at the obnoxious blonde and then left the hall, letting the door smack back into Emma's face with more exasperation than spite.

Emma jogged to catch up to the with the brunette's never-faltering stride and they made their way outside the school gate.

"Hey, wait. Regina? Where are we going?" asked Emma. Her bug and Regina's merc were parked outside the school in the opposite direction; they were heading towards the main street instead.

"To pick up Henry. He asked if he could go to the arcade after school."

Emma bit her lips to hide a burst of laughter. She didn't know what he was up to but there was no way the kid was playing Whack-a-mole. Regina was entirely sincere in believing the excuse and Emma wasn't going to rat the kid out. She had her reputation as 'cool Mom' to preserve after all.

"Let's wait for him at the diner then," suggested Emma. "I want hot chocolate. And you can get one of those frou-frou gourmet lattes or whatever."

They fell into step easily, the sound of their footsteps echoing on the sidewalk, Regina was lost in her own troubled thoughts until Emma broke the comfortable silence with a question that must've been bugging her.

"How old was Henry when you told him he was adopted?"

After a pause Regina admitted, "I didn't tell him."

"Why?"

The brunette sighed heavily and wrapped her arms around herself. "I kept waiting for the right time and then… I don't know."

Emma realised with an internal groan. "He found out right before he came to me in Boston? The same time he got the book."

"Yes, he didn't tell me he figured it out," paused Regina, thinking back. "...and then he came back with you, his real mom."

How those words had hurt. At the time, the mayor hadn't known why her son had suddenly withdrawn from her. He hadn't always hated her. She'd thought it was a phase, something all kids went through. Then he'd disappeared for a whole day... and nothing was the same after that. Her mother was right, Henry would never be truly hers while ever Emma was in his life.

"Regina..." Emma stopped her with a hand at her elbow.

"I'm uh sorry about the other day, when I got up in your face. I know you're trying. Henry does too..." Emma's voice dropped. "I don't want you to think we don't see it."

Regina's face relaxed into a hesitant warmth and she spoke under her breath with only slight bitterness. "Even if no-one else does."

"Henry's smart, isn't he," said Emma, with pride.

Regina returned the smile genuinely. "Yes."

Emma nodded and looked down almost shyly. "I'm glad. I was worried that um, that he'd be like me."

"What do you mean?" asked Regina, confused.

"I had some trouble at school when I was a kid." Emma gave a soft laugh. "I have mild dyslexia so uh, school was kinda hard and I was pretty old before anyone picked it up. After a while I just stopped going."

Regina absorbed the information quietly. She felt slightly uneasy remembering back to when she was Mayor she used to berate the Sheriff for taking so long with reports. It was a strange feeling because Regina never used to feel guilty about anything. Despite the blonde knowing far too much about her past, it was the first time she'd shared anything close to personal with Regina that didn't involve Henry. It made her feel worse about what she'd been keeping from her.

"I'm glad you told me, Emma."

"Yeah, uh anyway we should get going," said Emma, still acting a bit shiftily.

They were almost ready to turn into Main street when Emma suddenly yanked Regina back behind the brick corner.

"Emma! What-?!"

"Shhh! Look."

Regina tsked, letting the blonde how uncomfortably she was squished between her and the wall. Emma pointed to direct her gaze to the opposite street where Henry was walking with a young girl, also in school uniform. They could hear the sound of laughter as the two kids, heads together, pored over a comic book.

Regina's mouth twisted into slightly displeased moue. "My son. Has a girlfriend."

Emma laughed softly and then stepped back as if realising how close they were. She frowned slightly at Regina who was staring at her with an unreadable expression.

_Anything for you, sweetheart..._

_What do you want, Regina?_

"Emma, last night, I have to tell you-"

Regina was interrupted by the sound of Emma's phone beeping in her handbag and she handed it over to the blonde.

Emma scanned the message that'd come through the Sheriff's station and frowned. "It's the station. There's been an accident."

"You have to go," said Regina.

"Yeah, sorry about the coffee. What'd you want to tell me?" Emma walked a few steps backwards, not really wanting to turn away.

Regina opened her mouth to start and then thought better of it. "It can wait."

"Okay." Emma gave her a lopsided smirk and breaking into a jog, she called something over her shoulder that should've had the brunette rolling her eyes again.

"We'll get started on those siblings later!"

Regina merely watched the retreating blonde's form.

_I want my son back._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Easter egg: Henry's teacher's fairytale identity?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for reading and thanks to those who left comments/kudos! Something special for you this chapter, dearies...
> 
> The story summary has been updated since it only fit the original one-shot. Enjoy ;)

"Do you think Regina's really changed?" asked David, his tone revealing his skeptical opinion.

Mary Margaret paused in wiping the dishes and gave him a small smile. "I hope so. For everyone's sakes... especially mine. I like being alive."

"I like that too," said David, leaning in to kiss her lips lightly.

His wife's eyebrows knitted above sad eyes, she was still thinking about Regina. "She had to lose Daniel all over again..."

"It wasn't really him," said David, gently reminding her again of what happened that day at the stables with Dr FrankenWhale's 'creation'.

"I'm not sure a broken heart would make the distinction easily," said Mary Margaret.

David nodded slowly, he would never cease to be amazed by his wife's tender heart and unwavering sense of compassion. Even in the face of her own mortal peril the woman who had once been Snow White would never allow herself to be the direct cause of a single death. That she could feel her enemy's sorrow and pain as if it were her own and refuse to give up hope that she might change...even after all this time and countless spurned chances?

"Has Emma said anything to you? About what's going on with Regina?" asked David.

The brunette sighed. "No, she doesn't talk to me about it. She never talks about herself either. I think she's afraid to tell me the truth..."

Mary Margaret set down the dish and cloth and stared sightlessly through the bench. "Nothing could hurt as much as not knowing her does."

"Hey," said David warmly. He flicked some soapy dishwater at her playfully, trying to draw out a smile. "We have all the time in the world to get to know her."

Mary Margaret gave him a pedagogical smile and began with a rhetorical question. "Do you know why it's always an Evil Stepmother?"

"I'm sure you're going to educate me, Miss Blanchard," said a grinning David.

"In the original fairy stories it was an evil _mother_ , not an evil stepmother. Some authors thought that was too confronting for young readers, so they changed it, giving children an outlet for everything they hated in their own mothers yet allowing them to preserve their love for Mom."

" _Your_ stepmother was definitely evil," said David, wryly.

"Yes, she was. But I don't hate her," said Mary Margaret with an enigmatic expression.

"Of course, you don't."

Mary Margaret's grin turned into a sad smile. "I remember once at school I found Henry crying by himself at lunchtime. I gave him the book and then next thing I know he's telling me I'm Snow White and his mother's the Evil Queen. I thought he'd just jumped on the fairytale idea because he was upset finding out he was adopted and it allowed him to hate his mother."

"Which one?"

Mary Margaret shrugged. "Maybe both of them."

Mary Margaret's phone beeped and she quickly dried her hands before retrieving it to check the new message.

The pixie-haired woman's face turned instantly alarmed. "David, it's from Emma!"

"She's says Regina's taken Henry. They've gone with Cora."

"Regina's on Cora's side and Emma's gone after them alone?" asked David, voice rising with worry.

"I don't know, I don't know. David, we have to-"

They both jumped at the apartment door swinging open suddenly.

"Mom, can we get icecream later when Emma gets back?" asked Henry, as he and Regina entered the apartment.

"We'll see," said Regina, smiling at her son briefly. The smile fell off her face, replaced by shock at the menacing glares from across the room.

" _You_." David crossed the room in five strides and pressed Regina roughly against the apartment door. Her head banged back against the wood with the force of it.

"What the hell are you doing?!" yelled Regina, glancing angrily between her captor and Mary Margaret.

"No, stop. Don't hurt my Mom," pleaded Henry, pulling at David's jeans until Mary Margaret swooped in to drag him away.

"WHERE is Emma?" bellowed David. His forearm strained across Regina's collar bones, threatening her neck and holding her an inch above the floor, while his other hand pinned one of hers above her head.

"What? I don't know." Confused irritation flashed across Regina's face.

"Cut the crap, Regina!"

"You do remember I have my powers back," hinted Regina darkly.

"I don't care. If anything happens to Emma I'll-" David struggled to keep his anger in check.

"You'll what, David?" Regina narrowed her eyes into a death glare which transformed into a taunting grin, as if daring him further. "There's no need to stoop to my level."

"I couldn't get low enough for that," David growled close to her face, his lip curling into a snarl.

"It's a fine example you're setting for your daughter and her son right now... careful you don't fall off your pedestal, Charming," said Regina, injecting sarcasm into his former name.

David shook his head in a rueful smile. "They don't know you like we do."

"Emma does. But you don't know _her,_ do you?" taunted Regina, with a lift of her chin.

David pressed his forearm against her neck and ground out the words furiously. "That's because of you."

"You didn't even know." Regina chuckled meanly, slightly choked. "You didn't have to live knowing you had lost the people you loved. I gave you a mercy that I didn't give myself."

Mary Margaret narrowed her eyes at her former nemesis, a woman who had yet to use her powers to defend herself, who could've reduced the building to ash by now. "David, let her down."

David kept his eyes locked in the face of his hated enemy. "Because of you we lost our daughter for 28 years... and I am NOT losing her again."

Regina sighed melodramatically. "Would you mind telling me what the hell you're talking about? Preferably before you choke me to death in front of my son."

"David! Let her go. Now." commanded Mary Margaret. She was still shielding Henry who was watching the scene fearfully.

David scowled and shoved himself away from Regina, who smirked triumphantly. With a derisive eye roll at his oafish handling, Regina began rubbing her neck.

Mary Margaret stared hard at the other woman and began to interrogate her. "You've been in contact with Cora?"

"Yes, but-"

"You're planning to take Henry, you want him back?"

Every day Regina was tempted to do just that, but she fought it, knowing that doing so would cost her her son's love. The only way to truly have him was to free him.

"I love my son. I would never hurt him," said Regina simply.

"Being loved by you doesn't guarantee that. Didn't you succeed in killing at least one of your parents?" David said, rather cruelly.

Seeing that David was walking deliberately towards death, Mary Margaret stepped between him and Regina and held up a pacifying hand.

"Tell me about Cora," said Mary Margaret.

Regina's words came out halting. "My mother came to see me. She wants me back. She said she was sorry for... for making me marry your father."

"She said she was sorry for killing Daniel?" gasped Mary Margaret.

"No," whispered Regina as the point hit home.

"You can't trust her, Regina. She's using Henry to manipulate you," said Mary Margaret softly.

"I know," said Regina with quick annoyance, eyes flashing at the last person she wanted advice from. Even knowing how manipulative Cora could be didn't stop how persuasive it was. Feeling alone and desperately starved of love, her mother had offered her a feast. If it weren't for the protective effect of Emma's trusting her with their son-

"Where is Emma?" asked Regina, repeating David's earlier question.

"We think Cora's got her," said David, exhaling slowly and rubbing a hand over his face.

"I got a message from Emma's phone saying you'd taken Henry," started Mary Margaret.

"Well I haven't," snarked Regina, gesturing to the boy watching everything with wide eyes. "I _took_ my son to school and later I'll be _taking_ him to get icecream, but that's not what you meant is it."

Mary Margaret let out an impatient sigh and looked skyward, she didn't bother apologising for the hasty conclusions she and David had jumped to. It wouldn't do any good, it never did with Regina.

"I haven't seen Emma since yesterday afternoon. May I see the message?"

Regina held out her hand for the phone and then frowned, reading the text. Something wasn't right with it:

_Regina's taken Henry. She's been lying the whole time. They're going with Cora._

She had a flash of memory seeing Emma's vulnerable face as they walked out of the school. Then another memory of herself impatiently tossing rejected reports across the Sheriff's desk provoking a long argument. Not once had Emma correctly used the word 'they're', she always insisted that it was ' _stupid to have different spellings for words that sounded the same anyway so who cares, Madam Mayor_?'

"Emma didn't write this," said Regina, quietly.

"Cora's got Mom?" asked Henry in a trembling voice.

"It's going to be alright, buddy, don't you worry," said David, ruffling the boy's hair.

"If we're going to get Emma back and defeat Cora..." said Mary Margaret. "We need help."

"She's my mother. It should be me," said Regina with a hard stare. She'd be damned if she'd let her mother take anyone else away from her life.

Mary Margaret pressed her lips together. "You don't have to stand up to her alone, Regina."

"No, I think I do," said Regina, tilting her head at her wryly.

"Ok then. David and I will get Ruby and the others and we'll join you... but how will we know where you'll be?"

Light glinted from Regina's smile, "Oh, you'll see the sparks flying."

David and Mary Margaret were halfway out the apartment door when the latter turned around.

"Thank you. For bringing my daughter back again."

"I owe her," said Regina tightly.

Once they were gone, the brunette faced her son, who was waiting expectantly but not at all patiently.

"Let's go, dear," said Regina, placing a protective arm around Henry's shoulders.

Henry's expression turned quizzical and he gave her that familiar lopsided smile. "Wait. You're letting me come with you?"

"I suppose I am." Regina's lips twisted wryly.

"I thought you would've hidden me away somewhere to protect me," said Henry, still confused.

"Do you want me to?"

Henry shook his head quickly. "Nah, I would just find a way to escape and turn up to the battle anyway. Probably at a really inconvenient time."

"Then let's skip that. Shall we?"

"Yes!" cried Henry, and then he looked them both over, his clothes and then hers. "Wait, Mom. We can't go like this! We can't go to a battle dressed like regular people. Evil will laugh at us."

Regina raised an eyebrow at him. "You want a costume?"

"Of course! Rule of Cool applies to heroes too."

He was adorable nodding in his excitement and so desirous of the chance to be a little hero to Emma that Regina was sure she loved him more than ever in that moment. She stroked his cheek gently and when she leaned in to press a kiss to his forehead, Henry's street clothes disappeared and she magicked an outfit that suited her brave boy.

"Woah," Henry breathed, taking in his new livery in wonder.

He now wore armour fit for a young medieval knight: a brown leather brigandine similar to a modern bullet-proof vest over black long sleeves, fitted black pants and black leather boots. Set into the thick leather were designs of apple tree branches in silver filigree curling protectively across his chest and a matching sword was sheathed at his side.

"This is awesome!"

Regina laid her palm flat on his chest, right above his heart. As she closed her eyes, the silver branches began to glow with bright green light as the magical energy transferred to her son and then faded back to their normal silver.

"What was that?" asked Henry.

Regina smiled longingly at her son, as though trying to memorise his face. "Just a spell. To protect you."

"Okay! Now you."

"Henry, no..." complained Regina.

"Mooooom, yes." He stood there with his hands on his hips giving her a chastising expression and it was like looking into a mirror.

"Very well," Regina said with a wicked smirk.

She held a fist in front of her face and blew a quick breath over it, her fingers springing out like she was performing a magic trick to disappear a coin. Her suit was instantly replaced by an elaborate period dress made out of rich indigo-coloured silk embroidered with black and silver apple blossoms, a tight bodice gave way to a full skirt and a crimped ruff collar rose elegantly from the back of the neckline.

"Cool," said Henry, nodding and grinning in approval. "You gotta admit, Evil's got style."

"Ready? Let's go save your mother."

Regina grasped her son's hand in hers with a soft smile, and they disappeared in a cloud of purple mist.


	9. Chapter 9

_Over 28 years ago in Fairytale Land_

Regina lay motionless underneath her apple tree gazing with hollow despair through the branches at a perfect sky. Her pure white dress spread about her, a stark contrast to the lush green grass cradling her back. A slight breeze rolled through the castle grounds causing a flutter in the leaves above her and bringing with it the gentle music floating from the court. It was a beautiful backdrop entirely unsuited to her dragging melancholy.

It was a year to the day since Daniel died.

Every day she went through the motions of queenly life, being present but not really there. At times she felt she could barely move and every forced smile or pleasantry was an effort too much to bear. Now she wished to sink through the waving grass and disappear, yearning desperately for this aching grief to abate.

A small form nestled itself against her side and draped a delicate arm across her middle.

_Snow._

"Dearest Stepmother, I'm so glad you came to live with us," the child said sweetly.

"I am too." The words were automatic and held no weight.

Regina gently removed the little arm from across her torso where the gnawing pain was settling low inside her. The Queen sat up slowly and the world began to swirl alarmingly as a dizziness hit her full force.

"Are you well, Stepmother?" asked Snow, sitting up and placing a little white hand atop her knee.

"Yes, dear." Regina exhaled slowly, willing the dark and dangerous visions out of her head.

Snow reached around the grass behind her and grabbed two apples that had fallen from the sturdy Honeycrisp tree. She took a bite of one and handed the other to Regina.

"I love your apples," said Snow with a wide smile.

"You should be with your tutor, Snow," said Regina wearily.

"I know, but I've missed you. Let's have a tea party later?" Snow's face lit up with hope. She really was an extraordinarily beautiful child.

"Anything for you, Sweetheart." A false smile accompanied the endearment.

_Yeeeess, that's it. Spare the child's feelings._

"Regina?"

"Yes, Snow."

"Does everyone have a true love?"

The Queen sighed painfully and closed her eyes. "No, not everyone. It's... rare."

"I wonder if I have a true love? Oh, I hope so! When I grow up I'll find him and we shall marry and live happily ever after."

"Maybe he will find you."

The little girl giggled prettily, shaking her long black ringlets. "I'm sure we'll find each other. And then nothing will ever set us apart. I wouldn't let anyone take him away."

_She's just a child. Doesn't know she's saying._

An image of Snow lying dead in the grass flashed across her vision.

"Dear, you should go back to the castle," urged Regina breathlessly.

The little face turned pleading. "Oh, can't I stay? I've hardly seen you lately."

_Selfish child. Just wants a mother._

Snow looked at her with that wide-eyed sincerity. "Have I done something wrong?"

There it was again. A flash of a little white swan neck broken. Deathly still.

_Should've let her die._

"Go. Now, Snow!" ordered Regina angrily.

The little girl jumped in shock and ran away, wiping her face.

_She's just a child. What kind of person wished harm upon a child?_

Regina covered her face with her palms. What was wrong with her?

"You need to make that child love you, Regina."

The Queen heard the lovely lilting voice and raised her gaze blankly to the woman standing above her. The last person she wanted to see today of all days.

Cora.

"She is your path to the King. After all I've done for you... I won't have you ruining everything out of selfishness."

"Yes, Mother." Regina replied in a dead voice she could barely hear over the roaring in her own ears.

"Now, get up and stop this foolishness."

_So tired._ Would she never be able to stand up to her mother? The Queen got shakily to her feet before fainting dead away...

...The King watched from the balcony above the courtyard as his wife fell to the ground. He directed a solemn glance at the 'man' at his side, an elegantly dressed creature more like an imp with stringy hair that hung in his face of gold scaly skin. In a grim voice the King said:

"Will there be adverse effects of the potion?"

The imp tittered and flicked his hand around his wrist. "Did you not ask for an adverse effect?"

"Yes, but... I did not mean to cause her pain," said the King, looking uncomfortable.

"You never specified _that_. It costs extra." The imp bared his teeth horribly.

"What did you give her?" asked the King weakly.

Rumpelstiltzskin leapt onto the balcony and sat daintily, crossing his thin leather-clad legs. From his red velvet coat he pulled out a bulbous glass vial containing black swirling mist. He held it up with two fingers.

"The second most powerful potion in all the realm," said the imp with a flourish. "It is the only thing that can destroy love and even then it is not always strong enough..."

The imp brought the vial near his yellowy eyes and his scaly face broke into a despicable grin.

"A single drop of Hate."

The King paled. "What will it do to her?"

"Exactly what you asked for. To kill the love inside her, of course."

"That is NOT what I asked for. You twisted my words!" the King gaped in horror. "Undo it at once!"

The imp chortled with glee. "Oh ho ho, no dearie! We had a deal. There is no undoing a done deal."

The King's face fell realising, yet not quite realising, what he had done. Without a word he turned and disappeared back into the castle walls.

Rumpelstiltzskin peered down at the courtyard at the woman who once called him Master. The one who had cheated him out of a deal, unable to give up her child as the price they'd agreed on. The daughter who now lay at her feet with the seed of Hate planted inside her.

He needed that child.

Cora must've felt his gaze on her from way down below. She met his eyes with a triumph born of the victory she'd scored against him.

Rumpelstiltzskin smiled and whispered her a promise that floated down on the breeze.

"No-one breaks deals with me, dearie."

One way or the other, that child would pay the price for her mother's magic.

* * *

_Present day Storybrooke, 6am_

Sooo tired, groaned Emma inwardly. She could barely keep her eyes open. Dried leaves crunched under her boots as she trudged her way through the woods.

She'd been up all night at the hospital interrogating that lech Captain Eyeliner and trying to figure out what the hell had happened with Gold and Belle at the town line. All Emma wanted right now was to collapse in her bed but an emergency call had come through from the Sheriff's station in the early morning.

A report of vandalism in progress at the Mills family tomb.

Some emergency, Emma rolled her eyes sarcastically. She'd toyed with the idea of ignoring the call and going home to get some sleep before checking it out. But in the end she dragged herself out there because the Storybrookers weren't too fond of the name Mills lately and she didn't want to have to tell Regina that her father's grave had been defaced on Emma's watch.

Emma sighed, finally reaching the vault. There was no-one in sight and no outward sign of any damage. She gave the stone pillars and peaked roof a cursory glance and stepped up to test the doorknob.

Still locked.

Great, juuust great. She'd dragged her ass out here for nothing. She'd be lucky if she didn't fall asleep at the wheel driving back into town.

The Sheriff took out her phone and scrolled through her contacts till she got to Mary Margaret's name.

A slight crunching sound from behind had her attention snapping to. Emma let out a relieved breath seeing who it was.

"Regina. What are you doing here?" said Emma, slightly confused.

Regina smiled at her. "I see you got my message."

Emma raised an eyebrow above half-lidded eyes. "You sent that?"

"I'm glad you came. I wanted you to meet me here."

"We've got a perfectly good bed at home, Regina," smirked Emma. Apparently she wasn't too tired to make innuendo about a tryst in the woods. Just saying the word 'bed' made her feel sleepy again.

Regina nodded slowly but the humour didn't reach her eyes.

Hrm. That was strange. No acerbic reply? No threats to kill her? Since when did Regina let go of an opportunity to one-up her?

"So, uh... Henry's birthday's coming up. We should organise a party or something," said Emma, watching the brunette carefully.

"That does sound nice. He's growing up so fast, isn't he?"

Emma's face froze into a glare. Slipping her weapon from it's holster, she stepped back into a firing stance and lifted the gun at Regina.

"Emma, what are you doing? It's me."

"Cut the crap. I know it's you, Cora," said Emma, stopping the charade of concern. "Henry's birthday was _last_ month."

The fake Regina flicked a hand in front of her face and the glamour faded, revealing the woman's true identity. Emma stared her down from under a lowered brow and pointed the gun at the center of the other woman's chest. Cora merely looked at the weapon in amusement.

"Oh, this world! How strange your magic wand is," said Cora, delighted.

"Yeah well, in this world it's called a gun and this is point-blank range... a straight shot through the heart will kill you," said Emma.

Cora's musical laugh rang out. "Assuming I keep my heart where everyone else does."

The strange words struck a chord in Emma's mind and she remembered back to last night - Hook lying in his hospital bed boasting pridefully about wounding Gold:

" _I hurt his heart. Belle's just where he keeps it."_

Emma smirked at the woman she held at gunpoint. "I know where you keep your heart, Cora..."

Letting her words sink in, the sheriff lifted her chin smugly with a confident curl of the lip. "Regina. She's the price you paid for your magic. But you're not getting her back."

Cora betrayed no hint of concern. "I already have her. Did she not tell you we've been meeting in secret? Ohhh, you didn't know."

Emma tried not to let her surprise show. "I don't care. I trust her."

"Do you really trust her with your son?" said Cora with faked concern.

"Stop". Emma shook her head, not heeding the words. "I know what you're trying to do."

"I'm trying to give my daughter what she wants. She wants you out of her life."

"Are you sure about that?" said Emma rhetorically.

"Mm", mused Cora. "I think Snow's heart might make a nice gift as well. Since I can't give her yours."

Emma's finger twitched on the trigger. She gaped in shock when the gun disappeared into thin air. The woods were dead still.

"I may not be able to take your heart," said Cora in a sweet voice. "But your body is still mortal."

"Let's see how powerful you really are, Saviour."


	10. Chapter 10

* * *

 

" _Other things may change us, but we start and end with family" - Anthony Brandt_

* * *

Regina threw open the door to the Mills family tomb. Emma was sitting on the floor with her back against the sarcophagus, magically bound and gagged. The blonde's first reaction to the sudden light was fear before she recognised who it was.

"Mm-Mmph-mh!"

Regina tapped a finger against Emma's lips to remove the gag spell. The blonde immediately began coughing dryly and as she recovered she took in her rescuer's form with wide eyes.

"Unh...Regina, whuh... what are you _wearing_?" croaked Emma.

"Seriously, that's your greatest concern here? It's a dress, what does it look like," said Regina snippily. She was irritated and self-conscious to be wearing such frippery in front of Emma, expecting the blonde to start laughing her ass off.

"That is one pimped out dress, Your Majesty," said Emma, clearly impressed.

"Must you be so annoying." Regina began trying to undo the magical bindings that held Emma a tight captive.

"Yeah, I- Ahhh!" Emma let out a cry of pain at the jostling.

Regina froze her movements. In the dull light she noticed the bruises blossoming on the blonde's bare arms and recognised the effects of many different dark curses. Emma had taken quite the magical beating. She was breathing heavily out of pain and holding her upper body in an awkward posture. Regina brushed back blonde hair to examine her face and bloodshot eyes. If she lived, Emma was going to be in a world of pain tomorrow.

"What did she do to you," asked Regina, already knowing the answer.

Emma tried to downplay it. "Oh you know. Spells. Magic. Torture."

"Emma, your shoulder is dislocated," said Regina with a sigh. "I need to-"

Panic flashed across Emma's face. "No! Please, don't use magic."

Regina could hardly blame her after the magic her body had already endured but this was going to be awful. It was going to hurt. A lot.

"Emma, it's going to hurt," said Regina, quietly serious. "But you can't scream. Henry is outside. I made him stay out there to 'keep watch' because I didn't know what condition I'd find you in."

Emma nodded nervously.

Regina put the outside edge of her left hand between Emma's teeth and grasped the blonde's shoulder in her right. Emma squeezed her eyes shut.

"Ready?" said Regina. "One!"

Regina pulled the joint out and back into place. She felt the teeth bite down on her hand from Emma's muffled scream as the excruciating pain exploded in her shoulder.

Emma sobbed and it sounded almost like a laugh of relief. "F-feels be-etter already."

Regina finished freeing the magical bindings and helped Emma to her feet. "Where's Cora?"

"I don't know," panted Emma. "I've been here for hours. Or f-feels like it."

"She almost killed you, you know," said Regina grimly, propping the injured woman up against her side.

Emma grinned weakly at her. "Haha. I'm not so easy to kill."

As soon as they appeared hobbling through the vault's doors Henry threw his arms around Emma's middle. Emma winced and squinted into the fading afternoon light.

"Mom! You're alright!" cried Henry.

"Course I am, kid. Have some faith." Emma chuckled and wrapped her good arm around him.

Henry frowned as he stepped out of the hug. "Mom, you're hurt. I can tell."

"Henry,..." Emma wanted to soften it but there was no shielding the boy from the truth.

"She tortured you?" cried Henry. "That's an Unforgivable Curse. It's a life sentence is Azkaban because it's - it's unforgivable!"

"Uh, okay," said Emma, completely lost.

Regina looked at her in amusement. "Emma, if you're going to parent an 11 year old you'll need a working knowledge of Harry Potter."

Emma dropped her head back with an exaggerated groan. "It'll take me forever to read those things."

Henry patted Emma's hand. "It's ok. We'll watch the movies."

"Assuming we live," said Regina wryly.

"Duh, of course we will. Heroes don't die," said Henry, returning the look.

Emma finally noticed the armour Henry was wearing. "Woah, look at you, kid. You look awesome!"

The blonde turned her head to fix a narrow look on Regina standing there in all her finery. "Hey. Where's my costume?"

Regina rolled her eyes skyward in exasperation and held out a flat hand. A sword materialised in her palm and she handed it to the blonde.

"A sword?" said Emma, scrunching her face in disappointment. "I'm going up against the most powerful witch ever and you give me a sword?"

Henry giggled. Regina just shook her head and stared at her as if to say 'what the hell is wrong with you'.

Emma studied the weapon carefully. It wasn't her father's sword, it wasn't on fire, it wasn't even shaped like awesome. To all outward appearances it seemed like a perfectly ordinary blade. Perfect for slaying dragons... but against magic? Not so much.

"Come on, Regina. Can't you give me a flamethrower or a rocket launcher or something?" said Emma.

A loud flapping of wings rose out of the woods suddenly, as though every bird had taken to the sky at once.

Regina scanned the woods warily. "Where are your car keys, Emma?"

"Uh, why? Did you transform my Bug into a battle tank?" said Emma hopefully.

"Go, now," ordered Regina with a glance at their son. "Take Henry and leave. Don't stop until you get across the town line."

"What?" cried Emma. "I'm not gonna leave you here to fight Cora by yourself."

"Emma's right, Mom. We have to stick together," said Henry.

"We can't risk letting her get to Henry again," insisted Regina, warning Emma with her eyes. Cora had already proven herself willing to use a child as a means to get what she wanted. Nothing else mattered but keeping Henry safe.

"Regina, your mother crossed an entire world to get to you. You think the town line's gonna stop her? I'm the saviour, let me help you. You don't have to fight her alone. What do you think will happen to Henry if you-"

Emma cut herself off just in time and both women looked at their son. Neither of them had been parent material before he was born and yet each of them had come to love him in her own time and way. The truth was, Henry had two badass mothers who would do anything in their power to protect him. He was safer with them than without.

"I'm not leaving you," Emma said fiercely, and then shrugged nonchalantly. "Besides, you can tell I'm the hero here... cos I'm the one holding the sword."

Regina snorted a laugh before she could stop herself and muttered something under her breath that might've been "idiot". Henry switched back-n-forth between his grinning mothers, happy to see a look on his Mom's face that he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Oh, how touching. It's almost like you're a family," came a honeyed voice.

The three of them jumped. A second later Cora appeared on the steps of the Mills vault regarding them with a condescending glint in her eyes.

After a quick glance at Cora, Henry stepped around to face his mothers for a pre-battle huddle. "Ok, Moms, listen up. She's not gonna attack yet. This is the part where she tells us how much we suck and how we can never defeat her..."

He looked earnestly at Regina, "...and Mom, she's gonna try to tempt you back to the Dark Side. But you can not trust her, ok?"

Emma snorted. "She's not Darth Vader, kid."

Regina ignored the blonde and humoured her son. "Yes dear, I'm familiar with Evil tactics. Especially my mother's."

"Oh yeah," said Henry. "And don't do anything like try to sacrifice yourself ok? You don't have to prove you're trying to change."

Regina hesitated, earning a sharp look from Emma.

"Mom, _promise_!" said Henry.

"Anything for you, Sweatheart." Regina smiled and cupped his cheek gently.

When Henry buried himself against Regina's silk-clad form, Emma took hold of Regina's upper arm and locked their eyes. She whispered fiercely over the boy's head.

"You'd better not be lying, Regina. If you go and get yourself killed and break his heart again, I'll-"

"Hey, where's she going?" interrupted Henry, pointing to Cora disappearing inside the vault.

"Regina, what is she looking for?" asked Emma warily.

"Something that is no longer there." Regina drawled, watching the vault.

"Ok, so what's the plan? Can't you put a spell on her or something?" said Emma. "Can we try to entrap her uh, you know, like my parents tried to do to you?"

Regina shook her head. "She's much too powerful. Anything I can throw at her she'll see coming."

"What about Emma?" Henry piped up. "Emma has magic too."

"Ah, kid, I don't think..." started Emma. Her magic was way too unpredictable to be counted on. She'd used magic accidentally to save people she loved when they were in danger, but other than that she'd needed Gold's instruction to access her power.

"You may be more powerful than you realise, Emma," said Regina. "You just need to-"

"Er, can you guys hear that?" said Emma, frowning and listening hard. It sounded like foliage rustling.

"Hear what?" said Regina.

A loud creak followed by a thump boomed throughout the clearing. It sounded like trees were being knocked down by something bashing through the woods. Something big.

"This is gonna suck isn't it," said Henry.

"Whatever comes out of those woods... I got this," said Emma, gripping her sword with two hands in a determined stance.

But by facing where the sound was coming from, they were expecting whatever-it-was to come from entirely the wrong direction. Emma realised it too late, only just managing to push Regina and Henry to the ground.

She whirled around to see a wicked-fast fireball heading straight for her.

" _EMMA!_ "

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, Emma's toast. Any guesses as to what's gonna come out of the woods?


	11. Chapter 11

"Are you sure about this?" asked David as they marched furiously down Main St heading for the diner.

"If you mean rescuing our daughter and her son? Yes!" said Mary Margaret, huffily pointing out the obvious.

"I meant do you think Regina's really-"

"Not this again, David," Mary Margaret groaned and dropped her head back. "I know what you meant. But whatever happens to Regina affects Emma and Henry now... and it won't do us any good to have her take up with Cora."

David held his hands out in frustration. "I just can't forget what she did to you- to all of us. And every time we offered her the chance of redemption, of starting over, she threw it back in our faces."

Mary Margaret stopped him on the sidewalk outside Granny's and spoke softly. "David, I know. Believe me I know what she's done. I remember the day she gave me the poison apple like it was yesterday..."

"But it was also the day she showed me Daniel's grave and told me for the first time that it was my fault he died."

David cocked his head to the side and sighed. "You were just a child-"

"Yes, I was. But that day was also the first time I'd seen real emotion on her since before she married my father. For years she hid everything from me and I didn't understand why."

Mary Margaret's whole heart was in her face as she pleaded with him to understand. She'd never told him the whole story about what it was like growing up with her stepmother.

"Not once did the old Regina even try to accept a second chance, and here - now - when Emma said she was trying to change for Henry, when she finally might've found a reason to try... we didn't believe her."

"Emma was right," admitted David with a reluctant sigh. "The old Regina would never have done that. She's not just the Evil Queen anymore. She's both."

"We all are." Mary Margaret continued speaking with her hands in an earnest rush. "And we can go round and round in circles trying to find out who's the worst to blame for all this but it's not going to do any good... We still have to live with whatever decision we make. I can't just let her die. Not then and not now."

Mary Margaret firmly pushed through the entrance to Granny's. The bell rang and alerted the diner's sole occupants: Granny and Ruby behind the counter and Leroy in front of it. Knowing a face for action when she saw it, Granny took one look at Mary Margaret and went to flip over the CLOSED sign.

"Where's the fire?" drawled Ruby, noticing Mary Margaret's agitated manner.

"It's Emma! We haven't seen her since yesterday and she sent a text but it wasn't really her," rambled Mary Margaret in a rush.

"So Emma's in danger? How?" said Ruby, trying to clarify what her friend was going on about.

"Cora," Mary Margaret said. "We think she's taken Emma as a way to get to Regina."

Granny scoffed and raised a greyed eyebrow over her glasses. "Coraline Mills?"

"Yes, w- you knew her?!" said Mary Margaret in shock.

"Oh sure, I knew her alright," Granny chuckled. "The stories I could tell you, believe me! We're going to need weapons."

"Regina's gone after her," supplied David, folding his arms across his chest. "But her magic might not be enough."

"We need your help," pleaded Mary Margaret to her friends, her eyes darting anxiously from one to the other.

"Er, would you mind explainin' why we should help _her_?" said Leroy gruffly, plonking down his glass. "Can't we just let them take each other out?"

"Because I said so!" cried Mary Margaret, her nerves finally getting to her.

Leroy shrugged, making it a 'fair enough' gesture and hopped off the stool. "Good enough for me."

"I'm in," said Ruby, grinning.

"Everyone follow me," invited Granny with a wink, leading them to the diner's store room in the back.

"Uh, Granny? I don't think frozen lasagna's going to be much help," said Mary Margaret awkwardly.

"Says the girl who was nearly killed by an apple," said Granny.

Granny unlocked the door to the store room revealing that there were no longer only boxes of frozen food supplies stored there. At the back, shelves and racks were stacked floor to ceiling with weapons ranging from knives to longbows to medieval broadswords. The others gaped in shock trying to take it all in.

"Cool," stated Leroy, nodding his approval and eying the cache hungrily.

David raised a questioning eyebrow at Granny. "You have an armoury in the diner?"

"I have a town to protect from a werewolf," said Granny simply, retrieving her crossbow, "and a werewolf to protect from the town."

Mary Margaret took up a bow and quiver of arrows. Leroy chose a morning star axe. David picked a sword, naturally.

The five of them left the diner and spilled out onto the street into the glare of the setting sun.

"We'll take David's truck," said Mary Margaret, but apparently that was the extent of her plan.

"So… where are we going?" asked Leroy, wondering when they were going to get told that piece of vital information.

Mary Margaret winced sheepishly. "Um... Regina didn't say. She just said-"

The others groaned at her and she was about to tell them off when a flash of light caught her eye.

"Wait, did you see that?" cried Mary Margaret, pointing at the sky. "I know where they are!"

* * *

Later Emma would insist that she knew exactly what she was doing the whole time but it'd be a lie.

She ran directly at the fireball swinging the sword like a baseball bat and belted the fiery projectile into the sky where it exploded in a shower of orange sparks.

"Woah!" breathed Emma. "You could've said the sword was magic, Regina!"

The sword now glowed with a white glare from the magic it'd come in contact with and some form of marking was becoming visible on the blade high up near the cross guard.

"It must've slipped my mind," said Regina, dusting herself up off the ground. Henry at her side did the same.

"Yeah, right. Hey, where did you get-"

Emma's eyes widened when a huge creature burst through the trees in front of her and she immediately took off at a sprint.

"WHAT THE HELL is that thing?! Do something, Regina!" Emma yelled, dodging through the trees as the slithy creature chased after her.

It looked almost like a strange dragon: a slimy scaly winged lizard with snapping jaws of oversize buck teeth. Every step of it's lumbering feet landing on the ground echoed and it's roars shook the nearby trees.

Regina threw magic out of her hands trying to freeze the creature but the more she tried the swifter it seemed to get.

"It's not working!" Regina cried.

Emma lost her footing, dropped the sword, and rolled onto the ground as the creature skidded past her on the crunchy leaves. The fearsome lizard stopped for a second, blinking it's fiery eyes in confusion at her. Emma sprang to her feet and took off. Immediately the creature went for her again, it's corkscrew tail swishing rapidly behind it.

"Wait, did you see that?" Henry said excitedly, pointing. "I know what that is! It's not a dragon."

"Emma, stop running!" Henry called to Emma as she changed direction trying to circle the creature away from the clearing where he and Regina were.

" _Are you CRAZY, kid?!"_

Henry turned to Regina and earnestly pulled on her sleeve. "Mom, it's the Jabberwocky! It's the nonsense creature from Wonderland..."

"...where it takes all the running you can do just to stay in the same place," said Regina quickly realising the connection. "She's confused it."

"Emma, STOP RUNNING!" yelled Regina.

Shocked into compliance the blonde stopped in her tracks and the Jabberwocky pulled up short behind her. Breathing hard, Emma turned around slowly to face the creature which had begun blinking at her again.

'It's working!" cried Henry.

"Emma, stay where you are," warned Regina, seeing Emma's head snap in their direction. The blonde looked fidgety, like she might run again. Regina decided she would freeze her if she had to.

The Jabberwocky shook its head furiously and started bolting around in a tight a circle. Faster and faster the creature spun until it disappeared completely into flames.

When Henry and Regina reached Emma's side, she was bent over with her hands on her knees still exhausted from all that running.

"What... the hell... was that?" panted Emma.

"It seems my mother brought one of her pets with her from Wonderland," said Regina.

Henry shrugged. "It was the Jabberwocky. It only chased you cos you ran." He went over to retrieve the sword Emma had dropped.

"Kid, I thought you said Cora was gonna talk first. Instead she sicced a monster onto us," said Emma, still puffed.

"Yeah, I know. That's crazy." Henry cocked a lopsided smile and handed Emma the sword.

"Wonderland will do that to you," stated Regina wryly.

"You've been to...? Nevermind." Emma shook her head as if to say 'not even gonna ask'. The fairytales thing was still weird, but weird things were becoming less of a surprise these days.

Emma almost jumped out of her skin in fright when a cloud of purple smoke materialised nearby and Cora appeared.

"Yes, my daughter only came to visit me once in Wonderland," said Cora, with an injured air.

Regina's jaw tightened just seeing her mother again. She placed a protective hand on Henry's leather-clad shoulder and pulled him closer.

"Only to rescue someone you took from me," Regina ground out.

"As I have now come for you," said Cora.

"I'm not a prisoner here," said Regina, emphasizing the last word.

"Not yet... I don't think the people here will have forgotten you, Regina. I hear they even took to calling you the Evil Queen."

Regina stiffened at hearing her old title. She'd been trapped her whole life: in childhood by her mother, in marriage by her husband and the kingdom, and finally in exile by her enemies. She'd traded that life for Storybrooke and the curse - at least that had been on her terms.

"Oh look," said Cora lightly. "Here they are now. A lynch mob."

A rush of feet on the ground was heard as Mary Margaret, David, Ruby, Granny, and Leroy ran towards the clearing, fully armed and calling out.

" _Emma!"_

" _Henry!"_

Cora swept her arm out and around her head, causing branches to magically spring out of the ground where the five were standing. The vines wrapped tightly around each of the newcomers, who kicked and yelled in protest as they were lifted into the air. Their weapons fell to the ground with soft thumps.

"Cora, let them go!" ordered Emma, holding out her sword.

Cora raised an eyebrow and flicked her wrist. The fallen weapons rose in the air and then sped towards Emma with startling speed.

Emma reflexively squeezed her eyes shut and when she opened them, Regina had stepped in front of her. The former queen blocked the path of the onslaught with a lazy palm, causing the air to solidify into a shield. The weapons crashed into the barrier and fell harmlessly to the ground.

Regina put on a genial smile and leant forward like a gentile bow.

"Now, Mother. Can we get on with this?"


	12. Chapter 12

"Nice to see you finally dressing like a proper lady, Regina. Instead of those drab riding clothes you used to favour."

Regina must've been well-used to comments like that but Emma couldn't believe it and her face twisted in an expression that said 'is this bitch crazy?' Never had she seen the mayor appearing any less than prim and proper, the very picture of put-togetherness.

"I no longer ride, Mother," said Regina stiffly. She felt absurdly conscious of Emma and Henry at her side as well as the others strung up in the air hearing every word. At least Mary Margaret and the peanut gallery couldn't speak with the vines wrapped around them.

Cora gave a pitying sigh. "Tell me you are not still pining for that worthless stable boy."

All the breath left Regina's lungs in a rush. Her mother still had the power to take it away. Just with words.

"He... he was w-worth everything to me. I loved him," said Regina, shaking with breathless anger.

"Did you really? Or did you merely love the idea of him, of true love and happy endings? You thought he was your ticket out of home, away from me."

"N-no. I-" Regina's voice cracked.

"I did you a favour. If it weren't for me," Cora sent a nod towards Mary Margaret, "and my young accomplice over there you'd have been living in a stablemaster's hovel with a passel of squalling brats. Instead I got you a kingdom with influence and wealth. Power."

"I never wanted that life," cried Regina thickly.

Cora's eyes flashed dangerously and her voice dropped low. "You ungrateful child. I gave you everything. I made it so you wouldn't have to grow up in wretched poverty - like I did. You have no idea what it's like to have nothing. To be powerless."

Regina's face fell. "I do know. It's how I've felt all my life."

"And yet as soon as you escaped me you went running straight to another master didn't you?"

"Rumpelstiltzskin?" said Emma. She'd been silent but was keeping a careful eye on Regina. She knew Cora was doing her best to break her daughter.

"He used you, Regina," said Cora in a patronising tone. "Did you really think the curse was about you? He needed to get to this land and he needed the curse to be broken."

"That's why he created a clause for the saviour in the curse," Regina realised to herself. Her whole life had been a lie. It had been set up long ago. He'd created her. Everything she'd done had grown from the thoughts that twisted little imp had planted in her head. He'd caused so much suffering, misery, and death, using her as his weapon. His monster.

"You hardly knew what you were casting did you."

"I didn't care," said Regina angrily.

"You did what you had to. You see, Sweetheart, we're not so different," said Cora warmly.

"What did Gold want to come here for?" asked Emma suspiciously. This whole thing had been masterminded by him and now he was desperately trying to find a way to leave Storybrooke. Why?

"The same thing I'm here for - family," said Cora. "Rumpel's looking for his son."

"His son?" Henry piped up. Parts of the book were beginning to make sense but where was the son if he wasn't in Storybrooke?

"' _Rumpel'_? Ugh," said Emma with distaste. "You two didn't -?"

Regina shot Emma a look of surprise and an awful thought occurred to her.

"You and him," spat Regina towards her mother. "You've been fighting over me since before I was born..."

"He wasn't your father if that's what you're worried about," said Cora mockingly. "I couldn't give you up so I broke the deal. I fought so hard to keep you away from him... and then as soon as I was gone you went straight to him."

"I don't belong to either of you! How could you trade me for magic - for anything?" said Regina out of hurt disbelief.

"Don't look at me like you haven't done the same, Regina. The cricket chirped and told me how you got your son. We're the same, you and I."

Regina's anger flashed over at the comparison. She raised her arm over her shoulder and threw an electric blue fireball racing towards her mother. Cora caught the magic harmlessly and closed her fist around it like crumpling a piece of paper.

"You leave my son out of this," warned Regina. "I'm not you."

"Cora, you touch my son again and I'm gonna kill you so hard," promised Emma, gripping her sword tightly in both hands. "You are not getting anywhere near my family. That includes Regina."

Cora closed her eyes and put her hand to her mouth for a few seconds as though contemplating a new absurdity. She shook her head in patronising amusement and paced, circling around and eyeing the trio like they were prey.

"You always did form the most inappropriate attachments, Regina. Don't think I haven't noticed whose sword the Saviour is holding."

"You'll notice when it's buried in your chest," said Regina darkly.

Cora laughed musically. "You tried to kill me once before and you couldn't even do it yourself. I remember you crying over my coffin like a scared little girl. I know you still love me and I want us to try to move past it."

_Could her mother really be telling the truth?_ Regina thought it wasn't likely but she couldn't quite let go of the tiniest hope that Cora was sincere however badly she'd gone about it. She herself was trying so hard to be better for her son, was it possible that her mother would do the same for her? But it was so very late in coming...

It'd been easier to blame Snow than her mother for the pain of losing Daniel. It became a constant ache in her heart that killed her a little more each day, replaced by hatred and a need for vengeance. But her mother still hadn't stopped trying to take away the people she cared about. She'd shown herself willing to go through any means to get to her daughter, even if it meant harming Henry or even-

Emma let out a huff of disbelief. "God, Cora, if that's all you wanted why didn't you just come here and ask. When the curse broke plenty of people remembered parts of themselves they'd rather forget. So we're in a pretty forgiving mood around here. Second chances are given to those who deserve them... But I think you want Regina back for another reason."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You want to keep her weak, dependent on you, so that she needs you as much as you need her. You just can't stand her loving anyone else can you?" said Emma.

"Ah, to love again," Cora mused to herself. "Isn't that what he told you, Regina? Before you had to kill him?"

"Daniel? How do you know that-?" Regina started in genuine shock. Nobody knew what happened at the stables that day with Daniel's living-dead form and what she'd had to do, nobody except her and-

"The cricket," said Cora. "He spilled all of your secrets. That's why you learned magic isn't it? You were hoping that one day you'd find a way to bring the stable boy back to life. But you should know what I know - there is no way. Dead is dead."

"That's enough, you callous bitch," growled Emma, feeling the hurt rolling off Regina in waves. "Is this really how you try to get back your daughter's heart?"

"So protective." Cora chuckled and raised her eyebrows at her daughter. "I don't think the Saviour would be quite so willing to save you if she knew what you had planned for her... when she was just a baby."

"Give it a rest, Cora. I already know," said Emma smugly. "And yeah, Regina owes me big time. I'm thinking pancakes for the rest of my life. Maybe a pony."

Emma felt rather than saw Regina's _are-you-insane_ stare.

"So what's it gonna be? If I have to fight you I will." Emma fixed her gaze from under a determined brow. White light flashed off the metal as she deftly rolled the sword over her wrist sweeping out a circle in front of her.

Regina's lips twisted wryly at the trick. "Careful, dear, you'll lose a finger."

Emma returned a quick grin before pointing the sword at Cora and looking down the length of the blade.

"Mother, why are you here?" Regina continued with more confidence. "You threatened my son. You magicked Emma within an inch of her life. You've got my attention - what do you want?"

"I want you to come home with me, Regina," answered Cora almost hopefully.

"To the Enchanted Forest? What makes you think I'd give up my son and go back to that pestilential medieval nightmare. So you can own me again? Control me like you always have?"

"We can have a new life." Cora offered. "Things will be different, I promise. We can have power over the entire land. You don't need these people or this life."

"I need my son," Regina was affected emotionally but her voice was strong and she wasn't just speaking to Cora. "After everything I've done... if I can ever make it up to him, to be better for him, I will. When I created Storybrooke with the curse, no-one knew who I was or what I had done and I felt like I could breathe for the first time- … But it still didn't change me. I didn't know how to love until I got Henry. It took a long time before I realised that I wasn't really free, that I was imprisoned here just like the others, just like I had been my whole life... only this time I'd done it to myself."

"I will never go with you, Mother," Regina finished in a harder voice, holding her fist against her chest right above her heart. "You have no right to me anymore. I'm taking back my life."

Cora's face suffused with rage and Emma's sword suddenly appeared in the witch's hand. With a swift move she thrust it into her daughter leaving her gasping as the blade cut through her middle. The stab twisted low where no child had ever lain, not even her own son.

_Mother...why would you do this?_ Regina sank to the ground holding her hands to the sword wound, a purple glow circled her hands as she tried desperately to magically stem the blood rapidly darkening the satin of her dress. She could hear her name being screamed over the ringing in her ears.

"I want you to know how it feels," whispered Cora cruelly, eyes tearing at what she'd done to her daughter.

"Regina!" shrieked Emma yet again. Cora sent her flying through the air and she landed 30 feet away. Emma groaned when her head hit against a tree trunk and she fought to remain conscious as black spots dimmed her vision.

"Now who will save the saviour?" murmured Cora.

Henry stepped into Cora's line of sight between her and his mother's prone form. His small body trembled in fear and he held up his little sword shakily.

"I'm not going to let you kill my Moms," said the boy.

"Henry, no..." Regina moaned weakly, lying on the ground and unable to get up. She could only watch helplessly as her son stood up to her mother.

"I won't have to," said Cora dangerously. "This will kill them both."

Cora reached into Henry's chest like she had done to countless people. But before her hand could close around his heart, she cried out in shock as the silvery apple tree branches on the boy's costume snapped around her wrist like a vice. In an instant she was blasted backwards by a powerful stream of brilliant green light that suspended her in the air as the magic attacked her body.

"Henry! Henry, are you okay?" Emma staggered towards the boy who was paralysed by fear and shock. She grabbed him by the shoulders and placed her palm on his leather-clad chest as though checking to see his heart was still there.

"What happened, kid? How did you-"

They saw Cora's form fall to the ground. The particles of green light hovered in the air for a split second before turning to ash that floated slowly down to settle upon her body.

"The portal!" said Henry. "Mr Gold said no-one could survive it but Mom did! She absorbed all the magic. She made it into a spell to protect me."

"Regina," breathed Emma. Both she and Henry raced over and dropped to the ground beside the prone woman's form.

"You planned this," cried Emma, angrily gripping the shoulders of Regina's dress. "You used our son as a human shield?! You knew Cora would attack him again and you still brought him here!"

"No, he was- he was always safe- kn-knew she would try," said Regina in halting pants. "She- destroys everything I love."

"But you can't just-" Emma gasped in horror. "Oh my god-"

It'd all been a set-up, Emma realised. Regina had given Henry a protection spell, the first magic that she'd created herself, knowing what her mother would do. She'd even conjured the sword that'd been used to stab her, knowing that of course Emma would goad Cora with it. It had worked but Emma couldn't believe that Regina had risked their son's life. Had he really been safe? There had to have been another way to defeat Cora... this tactic reminded Emma of what Henry used to warn against when fighting the mayor.

As if reading Emma's thoughts Regina breathed in hard and tears filled her eyes. "Evil doesn't have to play fair."

Emma saw the purple light around Regina's hand fade to nothing. Her magic was weakening and the realisation filled Emma with alarm. "Regina, you can heal yourself can't you? Regina?!"

But the brunette didn't answer, closing her eyes against the pain.

"Regina, what the hell have you done?! This is exactly what you said you wouldn't do," yelled Emma.

"Mom, you promised," cried Henry.

"I lied," said Regina barely audibly.

Emma grabbed the brunette's arms trying to shake sense into her and as she spoke her words rose into a scream as she lost control. "Why did you do this? I'm the saviour, I could've fought her. I made a promise to Henry that you weren't gonna die. I can't do this by myself and you - you owe me for ruining my life! You don't get to die unless I say so… and I don't say so!"

The blonde didn't notice the others behind her. Mary Margaret, David, Ruby, Granny, and Leroy had fallen to the ground when the vines created by Cora's magic disappeared. The five of them silently joined the tragic scene standing a little behind the trio on the ground. Mary Margaret was already crying.

"I'm sorry," whispered Regina. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused, it was hard to tell which of them she was apologising to. Maybe all of them.

_Henry..._

"No, Mommy. Emma, do something," pleaded Henry, starting to cry.

"I don't- I don't know- Tell me what to do." Emma stared into Regina's eyes that were laced with pain. Losing his mother was going to break Henry's heart she realised. Regina had lost so much-

Then it hit her. In that moment Emma knew. She knew what was killing Regina.

With a shaky hand Emma placed her palm on Regina's chest. Her eyes widened as her hand magically sank through with no resistance and closed around the heart that beat weakly there. Gently she lifted the organ upwards out of the other woman's chest. Emma's eyes filled with tears of pity seeing the mangled heart in her hand. It was bruised and it's light was dull instead of the glowing brightness she'd seen with Henry's heart.

"Emma, what's wrong with it?" said Henry in a wobbly voice.

"I think it's broken," said Emma sadly.

Regina's heart had belonged to Cora and most of the damage was done to it long ago. A huge tear gaped in the middle of it from the dark curse, the edges seared as though by hateful poison or acid. It ached every day of her life, the void that would never be filled.

The heart's dull light began to dim.


	13. Chapter 13

_And I started to hear it again_

_But this time it wasn't the end_

_And the room was so quiet, oh_

_And my heart is a hollow plain_

_For the devil to dance again_

_I was looking for a breath of life_

_A little touch of heavenly light_

_But I only needed one more touch_

_Another taste of heavenly rush_

_To get a dream of life again_

_A little vision of the start and the end_

\- lyrics from Breath of Life by Florence and the Machine

* * *

_Storybrooke, 6 years ago_

Mayor Regina Mills waited outside the school gates for the first time hidden behind dark Prada shades. She was standing away from the other mothers and fathers crying happy tears as they waited to collect their little ones from the first day of kindergarten.

It hadn't been as easy as she'd thought to leave Henry there that morning. She'd accomplished nothing at work all day with thinking constantly of him. Originally she'd been coerced into adopting him, yet she'd since grown used to having a little person around to take care of. He was so giving with his love she almost felt guilty receiving it.

Henry had been so excited about school that she'd barely gotten him to go to sleep the night before at all. As soon as she'd dropped him off and handed him his backpack he'd taken off at a run before quickly coming back to remind her in an adorably serious voice not to forget him while he was gone.

The school bell rang and a pattering of tiny feet followed as the children spilled out of the gate. Regina couldn't help smiling as her son appeared amongst them and ran towards her.

"Mommy! I had fun at school. We did lots!" said five-year-old Henry, looking happy and very tired out from his big day.

"Hi, sweetie. I missed you," said Regina, propping her sunglasses on her head.

The mayor knelt in front of her son and cupped his face gently. His dark hair was all over the place and he had red paint on his shirt. He looked so funny in his too-big school uniform and a backpack almost big enough for him to crawl inside.

"I made you a thing," said Henry excitedly. He began to rummage around in his dinosaur backpack and pulled out a flat square of plaster with the impression of his handprint in red wax.

"Oh, is this for me," gasped Regina with wide eyes.

"Yes, silly. It says right there. For Mommy. It's my hand!" The little boy pointed out the parts of his artistic creation.

"I love it. I'll always treasure it," she said softly.

Henry's little face turned worried and he threw his arms around her. "Mommy, don't cry! I love you."

Regina squeezed her eyes shut against the tears. Loving him meant risking losing him but she no longer cared. It was the first time in forever that she'd said the words and felt them in her heart.

"I love you too, Henry."

* * *

_Present_

Regina's unconscious form lay against the bed of dry reddish leaves, deathly pale and still. The sour smell of oxidising apples filled the air. Emma held the dying heart in her hand as her own thumped uncontrollably in her chest. She stared solemnly at the brunette's pale lifeless face as the life slipped away from her.

"No, this isn't right," said Henry, looking at the adults helplessly. Mary Margaret knelt down and collected the young boy into her arms.

Henry buried his face into her shoulder. "This is a stupid ending. Good doesn't die."

"Yeah, but she's not Good-" Leroy started, but was cut off by a quelling look from Mary Margaret. He shrugged and muttered, "Just sayin'."

Leroy scuffed his boot and wandered over to Granny and Ruby, who were inspecting the ground near where Cora's body had fallen.

"She's dead?" David asked them grimly.

Ruby shrugged. "There's nothing here but a pile of ash."

"Ding dong...," Leroy hummed the rest of the song, earning another round of glares.

Mary Margaret exchanged a worried glance with David and they both looked at Emma who was still sitting by Regina's body staring silently down at her.

"Emma?" said Mary Margaret hesitantly.

"Do you believe now?" Emma's voice was dark and flat, she spoke with her back to them.

All of them were shocked into silence.

" _I said_ , do you believe it now! None of you accepted that she was really trying to change, nothing could make you change your mind even when the truth was staring you in the face. You just had to make her prove it - and now she's gone and gotten herself killed. Well, I hope you're satisfied with your proof," spat Emma angrily.

Mary Margaret's face crumpled and she held out her hand to stroke the blonde hair. "Emma, I'm so sorry-"

"Don't touch me." Emma slapped her hand away, rejecting the comfort.

Her harsh gesture merely added to the guilt piling up in Emma's thoughts that threatened to suffocate her. Regina had all but refused the promise to not sacrifice herself. Why hadn't Emma seen it? She should've been able to tell she was lying. Regina shouldn't have even needed to fight Cora. That was Emma's job, she was the saviour. She had magic too, she should've tried to use it, should've taken the time to learn how to access it. Or something. Anything.

What the hell was she doing here in Storybrooke if not for this, she'd managed to save everyone else... except the one person who most desperately needed it. Cora had been willing to do whatever it took to fulfill her misguided notion of what was best for her daughter, no matter how destructive it actually was. Regina had silently cried out for someone to stand up with her against her mother when she'd been too weak to do it alone. The mother she'd loved had taken control of her life since before she was born.

Even when Regina had been free of her mother, she'd willingly trapped herself in her own cursed life. The curse that had bought her some breathing room but the price had torn her heart apart. She had desperately defended the curse when Emma threatened to weaken it at every turn, even to the point of nearly costing their son's life and destroying the one thing she was still capable of loving.

Regina needed someone to save her from herself.

Emma picked up Regina's left hand, turning it over to see the perfect ring of bite marks left by her own teeth. The sight made her sigh but it ended in a sob and her eyes filled with tears. She bowed her head to hide the desperate pity and sense of loss she felt. The first of her tears trailed down her cheek and dripped off her chin to land on the torn mess that was Regina's heart.

"Emma! Mom! What's happening?" said Henry, alerting the adults to the strange sight.

The heart in Emma's hand began to pulse with light again. Shock slammed in her chest as she watched thick scar tissue knit the edges of the rejuvenating organ. The tear in the heart was being healed by a single tear. The blonde raised her eyes in confusion to her parents behind her, wondering if they knew what was happening.

"Emma, you did it," Mary Margaret cried happily.

With terrified hope, Emma held the heart above the center of the injured woman's chest and let it sink down into it's rightful place. A shockwave of rainbow light radiated outwards at high speed passing through each of them on it's way. In an instant Regina inhaled sharply and came to.

"Regina?" gasped Emma.

"Mom, Mom, Mom!" Henry flung himself down into his mother's arms.

"Henry!" Regina cried into her son's shoulder and hugged him as though her life depended on it.

The others could hardly hide their relief at the scene. Mary Margaret threw herself into David's arms crying happy tears and Granny pulled her granddaughter into a hug. Even Leroy wore a less grumpy smile.

"Welcome back," said Emma, locking her eyes onto Regina's. Her heart fluttered overwhelmingly in her chest.

"You saved me?" said Regina.

"Yeah, told you I would. Did you ever doubt me?"

"Actually yes, I thought I was going to bleed to death," said Regina with a small smile, but it came out more wry than begrudging.

"You're still complaining about how I save your life," laughed Emma tearfully. She remembered getting nothing but ingratitude in return for all her other saves too. It was kinda their thing.

"Mom, Emma used magic and it saved you," explained Henry excitedly. "Everything's going to be okay now."

"s' tired," slurred Regina, as she slipped unconscious again.

"Regina?!" said Emma, eyes wide with fear.

Mary Margaret bent down and quickly felt for the injured woman's heartbeat. It was there but pulsing rapidly.

"Emma, it's okay," said Mary Margaret reassuringly. "But I think she's in shock. She's lost a lot of blood."

"We need to get her to the hospital. We'll take my truck," said David, kneeling down and rubbing a supportive hand on Emma's back. He pulled at the star-shaped key ring sticking out of Emma's jeans pocket and threw the Bug's car keys for Ruby to catch so that the others could meet up with them later.

Leroy nodded approvingly to Emma as he was leaving with Ruby and Granny. "You did good, kid."

Emma suddenly started speaking in a rush. "We-uh- we have to get her to a hospital - please, we have to - can we go right now-"

"Is my Mom going to be ok?" Henry asked, becoming worried again by Emma's panicking.

While Mary Margaret gathered the boy in a hug and whispered reassurances in his ear, Emma went to pick Regina up and cried out when her shoulder refused painfully. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and the pain kicked in from the earlier dislocation.

"Emma, let me," said David and he lifted the unconscious woman into his arms. He headed for his truck, Mary Margaret following behind herding the two distraught 'kids'.

* * *

Emma shifted trying to get comfortable in the unforgivingly hard hospital chair. It was near 11pm and she was exhausted from not sleeping in at least 36 hours. She hurt everywhere from Cora's treatment but the pain in her shoulder was what kept her awake. The nurses had tried to get rid of her hours ago but one flash of her badge meant that she could keep vigil at Regina's bedside.

The brunette had been unconscious most of the time since her admittance and was still on IV fluids. Regina looked nothing like herself, sleeping peacefully with a pale face scrubbed of makeup and wearing a papery blue hospital gown.

Emma heard a soft groan and the sound of movement from the bed and sat up alert. Regina was waking up.

"Hey," said Emma softly. "It's ok. You're in the hospital."

"What happened?" Regina asked, taking in her surroundings apprehensively. The ward was dead quiet at that hour and it felt cold and sterile.

"You lost a lot of blood but it looks like you managed to heal yourself with magic quite well. Just needed stitches. The doctor said you're going to be fine."

Regina grimaced. "Dr Whale?"

Emma chuckled at her understandable reticence. "Storybrooke is small but there is more than one doctor in the hospital. I think the guy's name was Dr Jekyll... or was it Hyde?"

Regina glared half-heartedly at the teasing.

"And you're not gonna like this but-" Emma scrunched her face as if relaying bad news. "They had to cut that dress off of you."

Regina sighed. "Where's Henry? How is he?"

"He's fine. It's late so I sent him home with David and Mary Margaret. Visiting hours are over."

"Why are you still here then?" said Regina, playing with the bedsheet.

Emma gave her a compassionate look. "Hospitals suck. I didn't want you to wake up alone. Besides, I'm Sheriff so they can't kick me out. They prescribed you some stuff to take and you'll probably be discharged tomorrow."

Emma noticed that Regina just nodded, seemingly uncomfortable about something. She picked up Regina's left hand which now wore a small white bandage to cover the ring of teeth marks.

"Your shoulder...?" Regina eyed the sling that now immobilised Emma's left arm.

"Hurts like a bitch. Turns out you're not supposed to reduce a shoulder dislocation unless you're a trained medical professional. But they tell me there's no permanent damage to the bone or ligaments so I'm good to go."

"If you hadn't been so stubborn I could've healed it with magic."

But if she had, Emma thought, would Regina have had enough magic to heal her own sword wound? And what if Regina hadn't stuffed her hand in Emma's mouth as a makeshift gag, resulting in the bite marks that led to saving her life? Something about them had resonated within Emma and allowed her to access her unpredictable magic. She didn't understand it but she'd take it.

"I'm uh," the blonde stammered. "Glad that you're gonna be ok, you know. For a while there I thought- But this was all part of your master plan wasn't it. How did you know I could save you?"

Regina's lips twisted into a knowing smile. "I know you. You don't break your promises."

Emma grinned back at her and shook her head in bewildered amusement. She picked up the jug and cup waiting on the bedside table.

"How would like a glass of the worst apple juice you've ever tasted?"


	14. Chapter 14

* * *

" _The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means"_ \- Oscar Wilde

* * *

Emma smiled softly as the credits to the movie played but she wasn't looking at the screen. She took out her phone and snapped a quick photo of the pair sleeping on the couch beside her. She'd been waiting for an opportunity to collect blackmail material but unfortunately this wasn't it. Instead, she stared at the photo for a while before setting it as her phone wallpaper.

As promised, Henry had coerced his parents into a Harry Potter marathon but he and Regina had fallen asleep in the third movie before the characters had even gotten to Hogwarts.

The mansion was cool and quiet apart from the soft music from the TV speakers. Emma noted that out of all the rooms in the house this must've been where Henry was relegated to playing when he was younger - there were dings in the furniture and maybe even a hint of touch-up on the walls hiding a mischievous little artist's scribblings. Like the rest of the house's immaculate presentation, the room was decorated in Regina's signature black, white, and creams. The only splash of colour was Emma's red jacket, even though she couldn't get it over her sling right now she'd brought it because the mere sight of it in her house annoyed Regina.

Emma's shoulder hurt acutely. She was due for another painkiller but she stubbornly resisted, remembering earlier how Henry had used Regina's phone to capture a video of his blonde mother rambling about "magical orphans". Emma hoped to return the favour but nooo, Regina didn't even have the grace to snore or drool or do anything embarrassing in her sleep that could possibly be used as ammunition against her. Infuriatingly, the woman even slept perfectly regally.

A soft knocking at the door to 108 interrupted her thoughts and had Emma jumping up before the noise could awaken the sleepers. She opened the door and let her parents in, putting her index finger to her lips in a shh gesture.

"Hey," she whispered. "Everything ok?"'

"We just came to say goodnight and see if you needed anything," Mary Margaret whispered back, justifying their late-night visit to Regina's house. She had to indulge her need to fuss over them since Emma and Henry had stayed over there after Regina had been discharged from hospital yesterday.

"How's your shoulder?" asked David.

"Better, yeah," Emma nodded, shifting awkwardly.

Mary Margaret peeked into the living room where the DVD menu played on a loop in front of the two sleeping Millses. "Didn't make it through to the end, huh? David, maybe you should put Henry to bed for Emma?"

Emma nodded gratefully to her father, she couldn't move the kid with her shoulder in it's current condition and she was loathe to disturb his sleep. "Upstairs on the right."

"How's Regina?" Mary Margaret whispered once he was gone.

"Um, ok I think. You know, apart from the whole having-to-kill-her-own-mother and nearly-dying-from-a-sword-wound thing."

Mary Margaret gave her daughter a perceptive look. "She's been through worse, Emma. And I have a feeling things are different for her now."

"Maybe." Emma fidgeted uncomfortably, glancing agitatedly at the living room and back.

"Emma, what is it?" Mary Margaret took her hand to comfort her.

Emma tried to pull away but for once Mary Margaret wouldn't allow Emma to shy away from her.

She held firm and pulled her in, wrapping her arms safely around her daughter being mindful of her sling. Emma buried her hot face in the pixie-haired woman's neck.

"Oh sweetheart, it's okay. Talk to me," pleaded Mary Margaret.

"I uh - I don't think I can do this. It's too much- I can't- I have to get out of here."

"I know you're scared. It's going to be ok." Mary Margaret smoothed the blonde's hair.

Emma had been so busy saving everyone else for so long that she'd had to put her own fears aside. She was so used to being thought of last that she even prioritised herself that way. The battle with Cora had taken its toll on everyone but Emma had been the one to hold them all together. Now the dam had burst and it was her turn to freak out. When things got too difficult and people got too close, she usually up and left town - an option that was no longer there.

"No it's not ok," insisted Emma. "They need me too much. I don't want them to. What if they need me and I can't be there, what if I let them down. Regina, she's so-"

"She needs a lot of saving?"

"Yes! And Henry, he doesn't deserve this- I'm not parent material. Both of his parents are so fucking screwed up. I don't want him to turn out like me."

Mary Margaret held back from exclaiming. "There's nothing wrong with you."

"You don't even know me," complained Emma thickly. "If you knew you would-"

"No," said Mary Margaret firmly. "Don't ever think that. You've got a family now, you don't have to be alone anymore and we'll always be here for you."

"But it could all be taken away. I almost lost-"

"So you want to run away because there's a chance you'll lose your family again? Just in case?"

Emma didn't want to confess what she really feared, that her family didn't really know her and that one day they would come to know things about her, things they might wish they hadn't. If they saw her for who she really was, found out there was something with wrong her, they'd reject her and she would lose them all over again.

"I w-was almost adopted by the family I lived with when I was three," began Emma, shakily. "It's the first thing I can remember. They- the mom told me they were going to have a baby. We got in the car to go back to the group home. I thought we were going to pick out a baby brother or sister. But they just left me there."

Emma's voice hitched as she struggled to tell of her earliest childhood memory but she wanted her mother to know, not to hurt her but for her to understand the daughter she'd ended up with.

Mary Margaret had always suspected that Emma's upbringing had been less than happy but hearing it first hand, she couldn't help the falling tears. She had desperately wanted and loved her child from the moment of her existence and she felt sick at how anyone could just give up her baby girl so easily when it had been the most awful gut-wrenching decision of her life.

Emma stepped back a little and allowed her mother to brush her cheeks. She took a deep breath before revealing the worst part of the story.

"I told you once that looking for people is all I've ever done... When I ran away from my last foster home at 16 I tracked down the family that nearly adopted me. I sat outside watching their house all day. They'd gone away for the weekend so I broke in. There were family pictures on the walls everywhere. Not just one kid, but three. They didn't give me up because they only wanted one child, they just didn't want _me_."

"Oh, Emma."

"I trashed the place and then-" Emma broke off and swallowed hard. "The fire crews couldn't save it. I watched from down the street."

Emma jumped in fright when David appeared from the stairs looking at her with concern, having caught the end of the story. She turned away to hide her distress but he too pulled her into a gentle bear hug that reassured her she was still wanted.

"Hey, baby girl. Last time I had you in my arms you were crying too. I hope it's nothing personal," David said, trying to make her laugh.

Emma smiled sheepishly through tears as he brushed the blonde hair back off her forehead. "Are you guys taking turns dealing with my tantrums."

"Well, if you take after your mother I bet you can throw some pretty impressive ones," said David.

"What is that supposed to mean, Charming?" Mary Margaret frowned at him with her hands on hips, in a stance that was every bit her former princess self.

"Er, nothing. Just that you can be very assertive when you want to be."

"I'll show you assertive," mumbled Mary Margaret.

David stroked Emma's cheek with his thumb one last time and then took his wife's arm. "Come on, let's go and let Emma get some sleep."

Mary Margaret couldn't resist stealing another hug and whispering something into her daughter's ear.

Emma closed the door with a soft snick after they left. She was feeling vulnerable from the onslaught of parental concern and love, like a drowning person choking on her first gasp of air. Wiping her face she padded back into the living room and took her place on the couch. One glance at the brunette's creased forehead told her that she'd been awake and heard everything.

Emma made sure to prop her socked feet up on the coffee table, knocking over what remained in the popcorn bowl.

"Regina, I know you're not asleep."

"Is that so," said the brunette, still with her eyes closed and resting her head.

"Yes, and you're in pain judging by the way you've scrunched yourself into a ball there. Want your painkillers?"

"I'm fine."

"Of course you are."

Emma pressed the Off button on the remote sending the room into silence. She picked at a piece of lint on the flannel pyjama bottoms she'd been wearing all day. It'd been the only way she'd been able to convince Regina to stay in her slate-grey satin pyjamas since the brunette owned no other clothing that would accommodate her bandaged wound.

Regina opened her eyes tiredly at her, noticing the blonde's splotchy red face. "You've been crying."

"Yeah well, parents," Emma shrugged awkwardly at the one-word explanation. "I know you heard my pathetic sob story."

"Mm. As if they needed another reason to hate me. I ruined their daughter's life."

Emma tilted her head on the back of the cushion and gave her a mock offended look. "Hey, I'm not all that ruined thanks. Besides we got Henry out of it didn't we?"

"You really are her spawn aren't you." Regina rolled her eyes at Emma's pollyanna ability to focus on the silver lining of all this mess.

"Is it true that Snow used to throw tantrums really?" asked Emma slyly.

Regina let out a derisive huff. "No, she was an annoyingly perfect child. Cloyingly sweet and loved by all."

"Guess I don't take after her then. I was an unholy terror." Emma grinned like it was something to be proud of. "What were you like as a child?"

"I was never a child. I was born evil."

"You were not," drawled Emma, indicating she knew the brunette was being facetious. "I bet you were a spoiled little princess too weren't you."

Regina raised a shoulder and stared unseeingly. "I suppose I used to read and ride my horse and... try to be good and stay out of my mother's way. People used to say I looked just like her."

Emma cursed herself silently for bringing up the topic of parents, reminding Regina again of her recent loss. Emma had seen a few memories of Regina's childhood through her own eyes but that now seemed like forever ago. Her mother was terrible and manipulative but still, Regina had loved her.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, dear. Killing my mother never does get easier," said Regina dryly.

"Practice makes perfect?" Emma cringed at the dark humour, afraid she'd gone too far. She was relieved when it actually brought a wry smile to the brunette's face. She seemed... different somehow.

After a pause Regina confessed something softly. "It was my father's."

Emma questioned her with a look, not wanting to interrupt.

"The sword I conjured for you. It belonged to my father once."

Regina inhaled slowly, reluctant to impart such personal history but she had just overheard a story of Emma's and felt like it was only fair.

"He fought as a Knight in the First Ogres War when he was a young man. It was a farce of a battle, our forces were completely overwhelmed but my father survived somehow. The former king bestowed him with land and wealth when he returned."

Regina knew her mother had despised seeing a sword belonging to a King's Knight in the hands of Emma Swan, a daughter born to a farmer and raised haphazardly in a foreign land. Despite her own low birth Cora came to be obsessed by class and the power attached to it. If he hadn't had wealth and title, Cora would never have married Regina's father. The magical sword that had come into the Mills family had saved her father's life but it had nearly killed Regina - it was literally a double-edged sword.

"My father still loved me even after I... back then he thought I could change. He was wrong. I've never forgiven him, but I wish-"

Regina's voice cracked with emotion and her face crumpled. Without the gaping void in her heart, she now felt the full weight of her past actions. Her father had tried to gently persuade her against casting the curse but he never stood up to his daughter, just like he never stood up to her mother. He hadn't been able to stop Regina from destroying her own soul, trapping herself in a prison of her own making. It had cost them both dearly.

Emma leaned in but drew her hand back as though burned when she saw someone out of the corner of her eye.

"I hear your wish." The Mother Superior who had formerly been the Blue Fairy, appeared in the living room apparently summoned by Regina's words.

Regina leapt up and went immediately on the defence. "Get out of my house."

The Blue Fairy merely smiled like she expected that response. "You've had the same wish since you were a little girl, Regina. I cannot grant it. You will have to make it come true yourself."

"Hold up," Emma put her hands out like stopping traffic. "You're Regina's fairy godmother?"

"I don't have a fairy godmother," answered Regina quickly.

The Blue Fairy nodded to confirm. "The Mills family's patron fairy was de-winged many years ago. No-one of that line can be granted a wish anymore."

"So that it's it. Regina's just out of luck," said Emma sarcastically.

"Yes," said the Blue Fairy simply. "You have yet to redeem a wish."

Emma frowned in confusion. "What?"

"I have long been patron to your mother's family, Princess. I can grant your wish."

"I don't believe in wishes," said Emma, bristling at the heavy title. "If you want something in your life you gotta go out and make it happen. There's no waiting around hoping that things will change."

The Blue Fairy regarded her sagely. "When you know what you want, the wish will come."

And with that, the Blue Fairy left the same way she'd entered.

"Be careful, Emma. Wishes are not to be trifled with," warned Regina, thinking of a certain genie who became stuck in a mirror.

"Yeah yeah, I guess it's the usual deal. Ex-nay on wishing for more wishes, no killing, no falling in love, blah blah blah. Way to take the fun out of it. Guess I'll be getting that pony after all."

Regina stared at her, horrified by the possibility that the blonde might just be serious. "Emma Swan, if you use that wish for something trivial then so help me..."

"Invisibility Cloak it is then." Emma grinned.

"Ugh. You are unbelievable. I'm going to bed," announced Regina, shaking her head and padding towards the staircase.

"Ok. Night," Emma called to her back. "I'll wake you up in the morning for pancakes?"

Regina turned back from the doorway raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "You're going to cook pancakes."

"Nope, you are. Just wanted to let you know."


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay I had some formatting issues when posting this.
> 
> This story loosely incorporates some elements of canon and some events are still happening in the background, in particular this chapter follows the scene in Tiny when Gold comes to ask Emma for the favour.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

"Regina, for god's sake calm down or you'll rip your stitches out."

A hurting Regina was always an angry Regina and her voice rose as she and Emma continued to argue, staring each other down across Mary Margaret's small kitchen. Mr Gold had come to visit, to threaten, and to demand payment for his deal with Emma.

Regina pressed a hand to her stomach and inhaled painfully. "You're not taking him."

"He's my son and he's coming with me," said Emma firmly.

"He's my son. You have no legal right to just take him. Not that you have any reservations about breaking laws, Sheriff Swan. I suppose you're keen to add kidnapping to your already extensive rapsheet."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are you going to do. I am the law."

"You are just like your mother," Regina spat, ruefully shaking her head. "So convinced of your innocence and your own sense of justice that you think it justifies everything you do because you're the ones on the side of Good. One phone call and I could have you arrested before you even get to the airport."

Emma was unfazed by the threat. "No you won't. You won't risk bringing any outsider attention to Storybrooke and messing up the precious life you've created here."

"I have no life without Henry! You're going to leave aren't you," said Regina angrily.

"What the hell, Regina. After everything that's happened between us, you don't trust me?! I'm coming back for god's sake, I'm not running away with him."

Regina pressed her lips together and closed her eyes, struggling to keep her anger in check and her worst fear bubbled to the surface. "If you take Henry out of Storybrooke, I can't come after you. I'll never see my son again."

Emma glared at her. "I think you're confusing what I'd do with what you would do."

"You took him once before! Henry told me you took him in the middle of the night, you were going to leave Storybrooke..."

"That was to save him from you, Regina. When you were in one of your murderous psychopath moods. But I brought him back and look what happened, you nearly killed him."

Regina took the well-deserved hit uncomfortably. "That wasn't my intention- I would never hurt Henry on purpose."

Emma scoffed. "Yeah, key phrase: 'on purpose'. But you get so caught up in your ridiculous vengeance that you'll run over anyone or anything to get what you want. As if it's any better that your intention was to kill me instead."

"You're afraid to leave him here alone with me," said Regina flatly.

"No, Regina..." Emma shook her head with a pitying expression, but she was becoming impatient with the other woman's disproportionate reaction. Why was she acting like this?

"You think as soon as your back is turned I'm going to revert to what I was."

"Well, that's why you're worried about me taking Henry isn't it? Because he's your reason for changing and if he's not here there's nothing stopping you. You're afraid of yourself. Your mother was right, you are weak."

Stricken by the hard words, Regina threw her hands out in front of her in a move that should've sent Emma flying forcefully against the exposed brick wall. At the last second, she deflected the magic towards the kitchen cupboards, shattering every piece of crockery and glassware at once.

Hearing the loud crash even from outside Mary Margaret rushed in through the front door, Henry at her heels.

"Is everything ok?" Mary Margaret eyed the two tense women warily. She noted the lack of plates and glasses in their former stands and the mess of broken pieces on the floor.

Regina breathed heavily and avoided eye contact with her. "You stay out of this, Snow. It's nothing to do with you."

Henry glanced between his mothers suspiciously. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Henry," said Emma tightly. "Mommy and other Mommy are just having a disagreement. Go upstairs and finish packing."

Regina turned to her son and asked him in an unreadable tone, "Henry, do you want to go with Emma to New York?"

Henry's face brightened. "Yeah, I can't wait. This is gonna be awesome."

When he ran off to pack, a carefully schooled mask came over Regina's face but her entire posture screamed of anxiety.

Emma stared hard at Regina, forcing her to keep eye contact as she explained her plan again.

"I have to do this thing for Mr Gold. If I go back on the deal there'll be a price to pay and with him I'm sure it'll be bad, my eyes will probably start growing on stalks or something. Henry is coming with me, and then we're coming back to you. I promise. You have to trust me."

After a beat of silence, Regina waved her hands in front of her face and disappeared in a cloud of familiar purple smoke.

"That's some test, Emma," said Mary Margaret, tilting her head. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Emma crossed her arms defensively. "It's not a test, but she has to realise that she'll be fine without us there to reign her in. She still doesn't trust herself, or me. Henry believes in her. So do I."

Mary Margaret grimaced, hesitant to point out the obvious. "Emma if you're wrong, there's going to be hell to pay... and the price might be more than you can afford."

"I know," Emma set her jaw grimly. "That's exactly why I have to do this."

Mary Margaret gave Emma a searching look before asking the question she was dying to ask, she was reluctant because she knew just asking it would make her daughter angry again. But she had to know. "Emma... you are coming back aren't you?"

Emma dropped her head in exasperation. "Yes, geez. Look, I know why you're asking- cos of what I said the other day and everything. But I'm not running anymore. I'm tired of it and- I'm really trying here."

Mary Margaret nodded lovingly and put a hand to Emma's cheek. For once, the blonde accepted the comfort but she still squirmed and tried to look away.

"Emma. Is there something else?" prompted Mary Margaret gently.

"I did some digging," Emma sighed and told her of her revelation. "Henry has a birth certificate but there's no official record of his adoption."

"What?! You mean..."

Emma nodded with tightly pressed lips. "Regina's not his legal parent. It's still me since I'm the only one listed on his birth certificate. I was 18, I didn't know what the hell I was signing but it wasn't official. It must've been August who came and got Henry and gave him to Mr Gold."

Mary Margaret frowned. "But why would August let your baby go to Regina, he had to have known who she was..."

Emma shrugged. "Maybe he was hoping to find someone who would babysit the kid for ten years until I got here. Someone who wasn't capable of loving anyone, who would deserve to lose him when the time came. Or maybe he's just a jerk with a sense of irony. Who better to take the saviour's kid than the Evil Queen, right? He's a writer, he's probably all over that star-crossed lovers plot. Guess he wasn't counting on Regina to actually love her son."

"So you could take him away from her," said Mary Margaret carefully.

Emma's answer was simple. "Yes."

* * *

_Domestic departures lounge, Logan Intl Airport_

"This is cool huh Emma, just you and me? I kinda wish Mom came too though," said Henry. He was really excited to be going on a plane and visiting a new city. Except for the short trip to Boston he'd never been outside of Storybrooke before.

Emma wasn't prone to worrying in general but she couldn't stop thinking about her argument with Regina, playing it over and over in her mind. She couldn't wait till this favour was fulfilled and she could get back and get on with her life. What was she thinking? Regina would be probably be fine, it was Emma that was going crazy with impatience.

She and Henry were seated in the lounge, waiting for their flight to begin boarding. Mr Gold paced agitatedly in front of them. Something was off with him, he seemed - if she didn't know better she would've said afraid.

"It's my first time on a plane. Emma, how many times have you been on a plane?" Henry asked.

The young boy had been peppering her with questions about her travels like he'd suddenly realised that she'd existed and had a life before coming with him to Storybrooke.

"Dunno, kid. I've lost count," said Emma.

"Wow. Have you been to New York before?"

Emma chuckled. "Yeah, kid, a few times. Henry, did you know there's a huge Toys R Us in Times Square? We're gonna go and pick out the most obnoxious flashy toy you can find."

Henry gave her a sideways glance. "Er, won't Mom hate that?"

"Yes. Find one that makes a stupid noise too," said Emma.

Mr Gold looked at her irritably. "Toy shopping wasn't part of the deal, Miss Swan."

"Guess you should've specified that then." Emma shrugged nonchalantly at him, but she knew the man was very anxious about finding his son so she let it slide.

Just as they heard the boarding announcement for their flight come over the PA, Emma's phone beeped with a new message.

Mary Margaret: _I went to Regina's house 2 check but she's not there. Has she called u?_

Emma frowned and gave the phone to the boy beside her. "Henry, text your Mom quick and let her know we're boarding."

* * *

Regina paced back-and-forth like a caged tiger, catching glimpses of herself in the many mirrors that lined the walls of the secret place under her father's crypt. She picked up a crystal tumbler from the service and threw it into one of the mirrors, shattering it instantly with a loud crash. Shards of glass scattered everywhere reflecting flashes of light as they fell.

Emma had taken Henry and she wasn't sure if she'd see either of them ever again. Regina was trapped here in Storybrooke, powerless to do anything about it. Emma had made her a promise, but would she honour it if she thought doing otherwise was best for Henry?

Emma was the only one who ever defended her, so when they fought it felt like Regina was fighting the whole world too.

Regina breathed heavily and pressed her fists into her eyes, feeling the uncontrollable flood of rage filling her inside. She couldn't let it happen again.

_I can't do this anymore._

With shaky hands she picked up a book with metal fastenings that was lying on the elegantly laid out table. Flipping over the cover she magically flicked through the age-stiffened pages until she found the one she was looking for and began to read.

It was the last page in her mother's book of spells.


	16. Chapter 16

When Mary Margaret turned up at 108 Mifflin Street she realised something was wrong.

The front windows of the bottom storey of the house were broken and all the plants on the porch were lying on their sides with soil spilling out. None of the house lights were on despite the falling darkness. But by far the most alarming sight was the front door laying open by a few inches.

Not to mention the fact that Regina hadn't been answering her phone.

She hadn't been seen or heard from since before Emma and Henry left for New York. Mary Margaret had walked in on the tail-end of Emma and Regina's fight and she knew the latter was worried about letting Henry out of her sight. The pair had barely had time to rest since coming home from hospital after dealing with Cora before Mr Gold showed up demanding Emma pay up her end of their deal.

Emma had taken his parting threat against her family seriously. It'd taken her all of about 5 minutes to book flights, pack a bag, and be ready to go.

Mary Margaret figured that Emma's propensity for moving around didn't have as much to do with her job as it did with her childhood. How many times in her young life must she have been sent with no notice to a new place - cramped group facilities, indifferent foster homes, worse-than-indifferent foster homes - always with strangers and no real security of place.

Mary Margaret didn't know exactly why Emma had insisted on taking her son with her, but perhaps she hadn't wanted him out of her sight either, not for him but for herself. Maybe she was sick of doing everything alone.

Her senses trained on her surroundings and on full alert, Mary Margaret pushed the door open wide and it gave a rough creak as it swung. She stepped into the darkened foyer gingerly and looked around. There was some damage to the inside of the house too, of the rooms that she could see anyway. Picture frames lay on the carpet among shards of glass.

"What are you doing here," came a voice and Mary Margaret nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Regina. You're ok, I thought-"

Mary Margaret made a noise of relief seeing the brunette safe. She was holding a trashbag that looked to be full of things broken by whatever had gone on there.

"I came over yesterday but you weren't here. What happened... did you do this?"

"Yes, I decided to vandalise my own house," said Regina sarcastically. "Of course not. I wasn't even here."

Mary Margaret's brow furrowed. "Where were you? I've been trying to call."

Regina immediately went on the defensive and she wrapped the tie on the bag she was holding and dumped it against the wall.

"Why, so you can send a report to the Sheriff, Deputy? Did Emma ask you to check up on me, make sure I'm behaving?"

"No. I came to make sure you're ok. I know you miss Henry and he's away from you for the first time and-"

"I don't miss Emma," snapped Regina.

Mary Margaret paused, inwardly noting that she hadn't even asked that yet. "What happened between you two?"

Regina remembered back to after they'd been discharged from hospital. Emma and Henry had lounged around in front of the TV, having a good time throwing popcorn at each other while Regina watched in amusement and chided them for getting it all over the carpet. They'd had dinner together and made pancakes for breakfast just like the blonde asked. They'd fought over the bathroom even though there were several others... Emma had pestered Regina about checking her stitches and made sure she took her pills with meals and changed her bandage often enough... The blonde had ditched her sling in an effort to get her shoulder moving again and she'd let Henry wear it just for fun... It was all so ordinary.

The three of them spending time together had been comforting after what they'd been through and things between them had never been so relaxed. Regina had even let her guard down enough to talk when the two women were alone. But as it neared closer to when they were going to leave to return to the apartment, Emma had started to get increasingly short with her and surprisingly it'd hurt.

"I-" Regina stopped herself, remembering who she was talking to. "Nothing happened."

"There must've been something for you to fight like that. I mean, I know you two always fight but lately it's been different... and she was staying with you after you both got out of hospital."

Regina ran a hand through her hair and went over to hold the door out. "Thank you for your concern, Miss Blanchard, but you should go."

Mary Margaret wasn't to be dismissed easily however and she stayed where she was. "Regina. If you wanted to get rid of me you shouldn't have let me in."

"I didn't! It seems trespassing in my house is a family trait," commented Regina, but her words contained no venom and she pressed the door closed despite the broken lock.

Regina led Mary Margaret through to her study and offered her a seat. The pixie-haired brunette had never been in Regina's house before and she looked around taking in the decor of the home office. Trying to waste time and prepare herself for the conversation that was sure to come, Regina went out of habit to the sidebar to fix drinks but stopped abruptly with her hand on the apple cider.

"I'm sorry about your mother," offered Mary Margaret. "Even after everything I know you loved her and it must be difficult..."

After a while, Regina took a seat next to her guest but didn't look at her.

"She used to terrify me when I was small," admitted Mary Margaret trying to force a connection between them.

"And I terrified you when you were grown," said Regina bitterly, remembering the day she'd shown Snow the grave. "I suppose I'm at least sorry for not telling you why. At first."

"I'm truly sorry you had to go through losing Daniel again," said Mary Margaret with genuine feeling. She'd been wanting to express that sorrow to Regina ever since hearing about Dr Whale's unfortunate choice of experimental subject, she knew how much the older woman had loved her once-fiance.

Regina shook her head and laughed silently but there was no humour in it. "I can't stand your pity."

Mary Margaret accepted the words sadly. "I know. I think you and I are beyond apologies and forgiveness."

Regina considered that for a moment before nodding slowly. "We've known each other a long time, Snow."

"True. But most of that time I never understood you or knew you at all. You hid yourself too well. Only Emma rivals you in that... You know, one thing always struck me as strange. Why did you wait so long until I grew up to give me the poison apple… and why a sleeping curse? Why not just kill me."

"I thought it was more dramatic," Regina deadpanned.

"I don't think so. I think your heart wasn't really in it. I think it was just a distraction from the pain that wouldn't end."

"Not a very good one. Believe what you wish but I truly meant to end your happiness."

"Really. Then what've you been waiting for the last 28 years in Storybrooke?"

Regina didn't answer. She'd had to cast the curse to bring them all to a new land where she was able to cause harm to the Charmings. But the monotony of life in Storybrooke - where nothing ever changed and there were no surprises, where there was nothing that couldn't be controlled - it had been a breath of fresh air... and most importantly, it had lacked contact with those who brought out the worst in her. She didn't want to admit that avoiding the newly named Mary Margaret had been enough. It had been enough that with David safely locked away in a coma bed the former Snow White hadn't gotten her happy ending either.

"Does David remind you of Daniel," asked Mary Margaret gently.

"No," snapped Regina, flinching at his name.

"Does Emma?"

Regina glowered at the brazen question. "She reminds me of you right now. You're both annoying."

Almost satisfied with that answer, Mary Margaret decided not to push it and dropped her line of questioning. She was amazed Regina had tolerated the conversation this long. But she knew one more trick that she often used when questioning guilty students over misbehaviour at school... stay silent and wait. If you wait long enough, they will talk.

Sure enough, out of the silence Regina brought it up herself. "The other night... I heard Emma talking to you about her childhood."

"And you heard what she said about you," guessed Mary Margaret, remembering what started that discussion.

"Saving me is a burden to her."

"No," Mary Margaret said firmly. "If you really believe that then you don't know Emma. She just had a momentary freak-out. She's coming back."

"Maybe she shouldn't," said Regina quietly.

Mary Margaret shoulders sank, thinking about Emma and her six-foot high walls. "She's just not used to having a family, or having people who rely on her. She forgets that she needs you too."

Regina's eyes snapped up before she could help it.

"Emma's trying. She really is," said Mary Margaret, tilting her head and looking at the other woman searchingly. "Did she do her thing?"

"What thing?"

"Where she gets cranky and pushes people away so it's easier when she has to leave them."

Regina closed her eyes for a second before replying with a sigh. "Yes."

That was exactly what Emma had done. She'd guarded Regina all night at the hospital like a sentry and hovered over her care all weekend... until she'd done a sudden about-face turn and started picking fights with her. It'd been small stupid things and pointed jabs and after laying herself bare, Regina had felt them keenly. Then Mr Gold had turned up unannounced, yet again arriving just at the right moment when she was most vulnerable to snatch away everything she cared out.

And she'd gotten mad at Emma for aiding and abetting. For showing her a side of a possible new life and then wrenching it away. Emma had promised to be there for her in exchange for her trust... and then the blonde had just left so easily. Regina hated herself for needing anyone that much. The rage that always simmered in her past boiled over. It felt familiar and horrible all at once.

"Regina, has Emma called you?" said Mary Margaret, pulling out her own phone and seeing that there were no new messages.

"No. Not that I expect her to, considering..." Regina trailed off.

"I know! All I ever get is one-word replies or messages from Henry."

Mary Margaret wanted to chide Emma right then for being such a haphazard texter that she apparently couldn't even sent a hi-how-are-you-we're-fine message to the other parent of her child. Especially when that parent was worried out of her mind that they weren't coming back at all.

"Emma hates writing and won't if she can help it..." said Regina. "No, I meant about what happened before she left... I became angry at her, I couldn't stop it. I almost threw her into the wall during our fight. I can't let that happen again."

Mary Margaret noticed that Regina had said the last part entirely to herself. It was like the former evil queen was almost... contrite. She couldn't quite pin it down, but there was something different about Regina these days.

"Things will work out when they get back. You'll see," said Mary Margaret, ever the optimist.

Regina picked up her mother's book of magic spells from the desk. Laying it across her flattened palms, open at the last page, she held it out in front of Mary Margaret.

"Do you remember this?"

"Yes, it was your mother's. I used to sneak around trying to see what she was doing."

"I know," smirked Regina. "You always were a terrible liar about it."

"You knew?" said Mary Margaret in shock.

"Yes, dear," said Regina in a patronising tone and began reciting a list. "I also knew it was you who used to steal the tarts... I knew that you kept your diary in a sock between your mattresses... and I know all about what happened with the Prince Saxon."

"Oh," Mary Margaret managed to say, a little flabbergasted. She hadn't thought Regina ever paid much attention to her after marrying her father.

Regina raised the book and blew on the page causing the words to lift into the air where they hovered in front of Mary Margaret. The lines of the spell glowed forming a purple mist that swirled higher and higher. All of a sudden, the letters froze and disappeared.

"Was it supposed to do that?" Mary Margaret eyed her warily.

"No," said Regina quietly as the purple glow faded from her eyes. "It's not working."


	17. Chapter 17

Mary Margaret chopped the vegetables with much more force and vigour than was necessary. David raised an eyebrow at his wife as stray sliced carrots sped away and rolled off the bench.

"We're all going to have a nice family dinner," Mary Margaret muttered sarcastically under her breath.

Emma and Henry had not returned alone from New York. David knew his wife was extremely pissed about their uninvited guest. Well, it wasn't the fact that they had a guest, it was the fact that he had gotten her daughter pregnant at 17 that had Mary Margaret seething.

And David had to admit, he agreed with the sentiment.

When Emma and Henry had turned up at the apartment unexpectedly they had more than just carry-on baggage. The man they were with was Emma's ex-boyfriend and Henry's father, Neal. The same guy who had left her to go to prison for him. David had made a point of adjusting his shoulder holsters and he regarded Neal stonily.

After the necessary introductions and hasty explanations, the air in the apartment turned tense especially since Henry and Emma were both still angry at Neal as well as each other. Mary Margaret passed her phone to David, surreptitiously telling him to text Regina to let her know that they were back.

Regina turned up within five minutes and flew through the door without knocking. She went straight over to her son, who was seated at the dining table across from Emma.

"Henry, it's so good to see you," said Regina, putting her arms around her son with relief.

Henry stubbornly resisted her.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" said Regina, confused at the rejection.

Regina glanced around at the adults, wondering why Emma and Henry were acting grumpy towards one another. It was really strange because they were usually thick as thieves and couldn't be separated willingly. David just shrugged and sighed in resignation and Mary Margaret gave her a sympathetic look… but from their demeanors, Regina picked up that something was off with them too.

And there was a man she'd never seen in Storybrooke before loitering around the lounge area. What was going on here?

"Henry's mad cos I lied about his father, even though I only did it to protect him," Emma said snippily.

Regina's eyes went back to the strange man, concluding his relation to her son. All the guy did was raise his eyebrows and shrug in a 'what can you do' way. Emma had gone to New York for Gold's favour and come back with Henry's father instead? Had she sought him out deliberately or was it just an unlikely coincidence?

Henry glowered. "Regina, tell Emma that I'm not talking to her. She's a liar, just like you."

"Regina, tell Henry that he's being a brat," countered Emma childishly.

Regina left them and went to sit beside David at the kitchen bench. She felt a pang at being relegated to first name basis with her son but she had been on the wrong side of his moods before. It was a little gratifying that this time Emma was in his bad books as well. But after not seeing either of them in what felt like a long time and not knowing if she'd see them again, it was but a poor consolation. Having Henry's biological father turn up as well was far from comforting. The only relief she felt was that they were back at all.

"Miss Blanchard, tea?" said Regina. She turned to David and thanked him silently for the message.

"Thanks for the new things, Regina," said Mary Margaret quietly.

Mary Margaret's quaintly mismatched array of dishes had been unsalvageable since they'd been destroyed by magic, but to her surprise a new elegant Wedgwood collection had mysteriously turned up to replace them. The set was more Regina's style than hers, but she knew how to recognise a peace offering when she saw one.

"Did you get your locks changed and everything secured?" Mary Margaret said to Regina.

Regina nodded yes before she heard Emma pipe up behind her back.

"What happened, why did you need your locks changed?" asked Emma, not having any knowledge of what had gone on in Storybrooke while she was wrapped up with events in Manhattan.

"It's fine, Emma, I took care of it," said David. Since he'd was acting as deputy he'd gone over to check it out.

"Fine," Emma muttered. Everyone seemed to be ganging up on her and apparently not going to let her in the loop. She wasn't the only one not content with being ignored. Henry got up and went over to Regina's side of the bench, watching as Mary Margaret continued making preparations for dinner.

"Mom, I'm hungry," said the boy.

"It's too close to dinner time. Have an apple," Regina said automatically.

Henry glared malevolently doing a pretty good imitation of her.

Regina hid a sigh. "I meant, don't spoil your appetite. Miss Blanchard has dinner underway. If you're really hungry you can have a piece of fruit."

Henry dug into Regina's handbag and retrieved one of the ever-present apples. Mary Margaret flinched reflexively when Regina took a knife out of the block and used it to cut Henry's apple (luckily no-one noticed except David). She skilfully peeled the skin off the apple in one long snake without breaking it and took the first bite of it herself before handing the rest to her son.

Neal sidled over to the dining table and gave Emma a sideways glance. "Did he just call her 'Mom'?"

"She's Henry's adoptive mother," said Emma, tensing up all over.

"Henry has two moms, huh Em?" Neal mused with raised eyebrows.

"Neal, I swear to god if you're at all attached to your limbs think carefully about the next words that come out of your mouth," warned Emma.

Neal grinned rakishly at her and winked. He fake-coughed a word into his fist, "Hot."

Emma chanced a look at Regina and caught her looking back. They hadn't seen each other or spoken since their fight before the leaving for New York and things had been awkward enough. Now this. Regina must have realised who the guest was and Emma felt nervous for many reasons - look at what'd happened the first time a birth parent of Henry's had turned up in Storybrooke.

Regina rose and went over to Neal, extending her hand politely. "I don't believe we've been introduced. Regina Mills."

"Hey," said Neal in his characteristic hoarse voice. "Nice to meet you, Regina. Neal Cassady. Emma has good taste, although I can't say I've heard much about you."

" _Oh god,"_ Emma groaned under her breath. She was awfully tempted to let nature take it's course and just let Regina have at him. There was no way she would tolerate this guy making innuendo for long. Emma now understood why people hated family reunions - it was all fun and games until someone lost a limb.

"You must be my son's biological father," said Regina in an unreadable tone.

"Yeah, I guess," said Neal. "Didn't even know about the little guy till the other day though."

"Well, I do hope we can get to know each other better, Mr Cassady," said Regina cordially.

"Nice that someone around here is so welcoming." Neal glanced wryly at Emma and Henry who wore twin glares on their faces.

Emma scoffed a laugh. "Neal, seriously? That is not welcoming. That's Regina's _I'm-about-to-kill-you-slowly-and-enjoy-it_ smile."

"She's the Evil Queen," supplied Henry.

Neal frowned. "The curse, right? I heard about that. It was because you lost your true love."

He said the last part to Regina who flinched at hearing her most desperate pain reduced to such a casual sentence. The air in the room froze dangerously before the brunette left swiftly through the front door. Mary Margaret and David exchanged worried glances as Emma chased after her into the hall.

"Regina, wait," called Emma.

Regina whirled around, arms gripping the panels of her coat across her body. "You lied."

"Oh for god's sake. Not you too," said Emma out of exasperation. "I came back, I brought Henry back!"

"Yes, but not to me," said Regina, fighting to control the emotion that shook her voice.

She loathed Emma with every fibre of her being right then. Good heroic Emma the saviour who the world fell over itself trying to help whereas Regina had wished and hoped for years for help that never came. She could see where this was going. Emma was now reunited with her first love. Regina could never get hers back and might never get the chance to love again. She was about to lose her son in the process of losing her only remaining chance at having any kind of happiness.

"You're not gonna lose Henry," Emma said firmly as if reading her thoughts.

"I never had a chance did I?" said Regina bitterly.

"What?" said Emma, confused by the sudden change of tack.

Heels clicked and echoed in the hallway as Regina stalked towards the stairs again.

"Regina," said Emma, jogging to catch up. "Regina! Don't you dare walk away from me right now. This is exactly why we always end up like this. Every time I think we're getting somewhere you close up and-"

"Don't!" Regina pulled away when Emma grabbed her arm. "You're always doing that."

Emma growled in frustration, breathing heavily. "How did everything go to hell! I don't understand-"

"Of course you don't. Because you never say what you mean do you?" Regina said in a low voice.

"I don't even know what the hell is going on with us."

"You said we were family," cried Regina, instantly regretting the outburst and a mask shuttered over her hurt face. "We are not family. Despite your orphan-like tendency to adopt everyone around you."

Emma stared at her blankly. "You know what. Just go, Regina. I'll bring Henry home later and you two can be pissed off at me together."

When Emma came back through the apartment door and slammed it shut behind her, all heads snapped in her direction. She glared at the adults, cowing them not to comment on the fight they must've heard loud and clear. She especially hated that Neal was there, being the cause of all this, coming back into her life just to wreck everything again.

Emma's heart softened when she noticed her son's face. "Henry..."

The eleven-year-old immediately threw his arms around her middle. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please don't fight with Mom."

"Oh kid." Emma knelt down to whisper in his ear. "It's not about you."

Henry cupped his hand around her ear and whispered back. "I know. She always does this with you."

"What do you mean, kid?"

"Good," said Henry, nodding to himself and remembering his book of tales. "You don't know yet. Otherwise it wouldn't be a very good story if you knew all along."

Emma drew back and stroked his hair gently. "We'll go over there after dinner ok?"

When Emma stood up out of the hug she felt it before she saw it. Mary Margaret's stare of parental disdain fixed upon her and she knew she was in trouble.

"Emma, bedroom. Now."


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the interminable wait on this chapter, it felt long to me too but I wasn’t in the right headspace to write it for a while because it needed a lot of heart. I can’t please everyone with this, some may like it and some may not, so I thought I’d at least try to please myself. Some of Regina’s dialogue here is paraphrased from an interview given by Lana Parrilla.

 

* * *

_Funny you're the broken one but I'm the only one who needed saving_

\- Lyrics from Stay by Rihanna

* * *

 

Neal cleared his throat, “I better head off. My flight back is tomorrow, have to meet my fiance at the airport.”

 

He was keen to get out of whatever family business he’d unknowingly walked into. He was staying at Granny’s bed and breakfast, rather than Mr Gold’s manor since he and his father were having... issues. Neal went over to ruffle Henry’s hair on his way out, saying that he’d come see him before he left.

 

After the forced polite goodbyes, Mary Margaret marched her daughter into the upstairs bedroom. Emma stomped up the stairs the whole way with the disgruntled air of a teenager in trouble. The pixie-haired brunette shut the door behind her and then turned to pin a stern gaze on Emma with crossed arms.

 

“What is wrong with you, young lady?”

 

Emma rolled her eyes and gave her a sarcastic face. “Seriously? Drop the Mom act.”

 

“No. Not until you stop acting like a child.”

 

“I haven’t even done anything,” said Emma, lifting her shoulders and holding her hands out.

 

“The fact that you don’t even know what you’ve done is worse. Emma, you picked a fight with Regina almost the second she walked in the door. I know you two fought before you left but that’s no excuse for being cruel.”

 

“We always fight and she starts it half the time,” Emma grumbled.

 

“Not this time! She was trying to be civil to Neal for Henry’s sake - and yours. The last few days haven’t been easy for her... she missed you and Henry so much and she’s had more to deal with than you know. You couldn’t have called her the entire time you were in New York?”

 

Emma’s raised an eyebrow incredulously at her mother’s impassioned speech. Since when did Snow White defend the Evil Queen?

 

“You’re taking her side? The universe will probably implode,” said Emma.

 

The words burst out of Mary Margaret as she fought against tears over the common ground she’d found with her former enemy. “I know what it’s like to be a mother who doesn’t know if she’ll ever see her child again.”

 

“I wasn’t gonna leave,” said Emma uncomfortably.

 

“Emma, we can’t tell what’s going on in your head,” pleaded Mary Margaret. “Sometimes I feel like I don’t even know you.”

 

After a while Emma admitted in a thick voice, “I screwed up. I guess it was just a matter of time.”

 

Mary Margaret softened at the self-deprecating tone and pulled Emma to sit next to her on the edge of the bed. She brushed back blonde hair that hung around her daughter’s face watching her with concern. Emma played with a thread come loose from the bedspread.

 

“Things were really good on the weekend. I thought maybe even- ” Emma broke off and glanced at Mary Margaret shiftily. “I thought-”

 

Mary Margaret listened but didn’t give away that she’d heard some of the story from Regina and that she’d guessed the parts she’d left out.

 

“I just had to get away.”

 

“So you screwed up now to avoid screwing up later?” said Mary Margaret, scrunching her face slightly.

 

“Sounds stupid when you say it like that,” said Emma, embarrassed.

 

“What happened in Manhattan,” prompted Mary Margaret gently.

 

“I just...” Emma shook her head as though she still couldn’t believe it. “Mr Gold. Neal. Our family tree is starting to look more like a tangled bush.”

 

“Henry’s upset you lied about Neal. I know you’re upset too...”

 

Emma’s hand went to her neck to fiddle with the swan keychain necklace that was no longer there.

 

“Neal broke my heart,” she said in a small voice. “I loved him and he left me cos August told him I had to grow up and break the stupid curse. I went to prison for a crime he committed... and then I found out I was pregnant with a baby I knew I couldn’t keep. I promised myself back then that I’d never trust anyone that much again.”

 

Mary Margaret stroked her hair gently. “There’s always a risk when you offer someone your heart. But believe me, when you both feel the same way....”

 

“Does everyone have a true love where you come from?” asked Emma, sounding much younger all of a sudden.

 

Mary Margaret remembered being a child asking her stepmother the same question. “No, not everyone.”

 

Emma rolled her eyes lightly and sniffed into her sleeve. “Right. So some people have true loves waiting to find them and other people are just what, out of luck? And what happens to you if you lose your true love? That’s it forever?”

 

“I think you know what happens... the person loses themself as well.”

 

Mary Margaret picked up Emma’s hand and held it between both of hers. “But even if you don’t have a true love, second love can be powerful too and there’s no reason why you can’t be happy again.”

 

Emma gave her a weak smile at what her mother’s words hinted. Mothers always knew. “How is it that you’re okay with this.”

 

Mary Margaret sighed. “When I gave you up as a baby, I wanted to give you your best chance... and I know you didn’t get it. I ended up sacrificing you so that our curse could be broken. I will never compromise your happiness like that again.”

 

Emma remembered that the others had been talking about something odd before Regina left. “What happened here while I was gone?”

 

“I went to see Regina. We had a talk.”

 

Emma raised an eyebrow and looked Mary Margaret up and down as if checking for injuries. “You don’t appear to be missing anything vital... Henry said there was something I didn’t know. What’d Regina have to deal with?”

 

Mary Margaret gave her a telling look. “If you want to know, maybe you should ask her.”

 

* * *

 

Regina was already in bed when she heard someone enter her semi-dark room and saw a shadow fall across the bottom of the quilt. She waited warily but felt no actual fear. It wouldn’t be the first time an assassin or traitorous guard had tried to kill her in her sleep. Not one of them had lived to try again.

 

“Don’t waste my time,” Regina snarked at the intruder. She leaned over to flick the switch of the bedside lamp and the flood of warm light revealed the intruder’s identity.

 

“Emma?” Regina’s brow creased at seeing the blonde who was shifting from foot to foot. Oddly she was also holding a pot plant with the Game of Thorns logo on it’s box and had yet to speak.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“I uh... I know, but can you just hear me out? I um, haven’t exactly done this before... well I guess, obviously I need to but I’ve never had anyone before so I haven’t... and two people with nothing between them have nothing to fight about... so uh yeah.”

 

Regina blinked once in confusion at the blonde’s ramblings. “I have no idea what you just said.”

 

“I’m sorry,” blurted Emma.

 

Regina pressed her lips together and sat up in bed folding her arms. “Why are you apologising to me. I’m nothing to you.”

 

“You’re my son’s mother,” Emma offered quietly.

 

“Am I really.” Regina said sarcastically, feeling her anger rise. “Or is it just until you decide that leaving me is best for him, or for you, and then one day I just find you both gone?”

 

“I’m not gonna take the kid and leave,” said Emma, but she sounded so hesitant it was hardly convincing.

 

“He's not just some kid to me. He's my child,” said Regina vehemently. “That's how I've always seen it even if other people haven’t. My blood's not pumping in his veins but that doesn't make any difference. I’m his mother. I’ve been there his whole life. You may have given birth to him but that does not give you the right to decide what happens to him by yourself.”

 

Emma cringed having to tell her the truth, but she’d had enough of lying and she tried to soften the blow with her tone. “Henry’s not legally yours. The adoption was a sham.”

 

Regina felt the force of it slam into her gut as if it were a physical hit and it made her breathless. “You’re - you’re going to take him?”

 

“No,” said Emma fiercely, sitting on the bed and reaching for her hand. “You’ve changed. I’ve seen it and I trust you with our son. You know I always keep my promises, so I’m promising you this now - I will never take him from you.”

 

Emma placed the peace lily she’d brought with her on the bedside table and swallowed nervously.

 

“I uh... walked here to try to figure out what to say on the way. Game of Thorns was still open but they didn’t have any roses left... and then uh, I saw this and thought it was better cos it’ll grow.”

 

With a jolt Regina recalled saying to Emma a while back after they first met, “In order for something to grow, Ms Swan, it needs roots … and you don’t have any.”  Is that what Emma meant with this gift? That she wanted to stop running? That she was willing to stay and see what they had together?

 

“When I made myself your saviour, I knew it’d be a one-step-forward two-steps-back kinda thing... but I didn’t realise it’d be me going backwards. We got too close, you and me, and I had to get away. But I’m sorry I left the way I did. Especially when you needed me and-” Emma looked down sadly, “I wasn’t there. Mary Margaret said something was going on with you. Will you tell me?”

 

It was Regina’s turn to speak up and she told her what had been going on in a shaky voice. “I’ve been doing magic. My mother’s book of spells... I’ve been trying to get rid of my magic but it’s not working. I can’t get it to work.”

 

Emma raised one shoulder in a shrug. “Maybe you already paid the price for it?”

 

“And there are no refunds it seems,” said Regina bitterly.

 

“Why do you want to give it up?” Emma gave her a searching look.

 

Regina frowned in annoyance at her, wondering why she even had to ask. “Emma, I almost threw you into a wall!”

 

“But you didn’t.”

 

Regina bit her lip and looked away. “I can’t let it happen again. You should take Henry and get away from me.”

 

“No. We’re not going to abandon you just because this is hard. You’re so close to freeing yourself of all that-”

 

“I will never be free of my past! I will never be free of magic.”

 

“I wish that you could be,” said Emma, putting her hand to Regina’s face and trailing her thumb across the cheekbone. “But maybe giving up isn’t the answer.”

 

“Sometimes loving something means letting it go,” said Regina sadly. “My mother was always critical of me - nothing I ever did was right. I was never enough for her the way I was. I never wanted power but somehow I ended up like her anyway.”

 

“I’ll give you my wish so that you can be free,” offered Emma.

 

“Emma, no,” Regina furrowed a brow and shook her head sadly at the heartfelt offer. “It’s yours. And you’ve already done enough for me. You trusted me when no-one else would and it was all I needed. All I ever wanted was to be free, to have a life of my own. That’s something I have to make come true myself and if I ever manage to do it it’ll be because of you.”

 

“What do you wish for Emma?” asked Regina softly.

 

Emma smiled but there was something missing from it’s fullness. “Family.”

 

Regina wasn’t surprised and she smiled inwardly. The same hope that every orphan had but most of them wouldn’t have as happy an ending as Emma - finding her parents and finding out that they loved her and only gave her up because they had to. It was an orphan’s dream come true and Emma wouldn’t even have to cash in her wish.

 

“I’m truly glad you found them. And Henry. You have your family now.”

 

Emma took a deep breath and stole a glance at her, recalling their fight. “I don’t have you.”

 

“Yes you do,” admitted Regina in a low voice. “I didn’t mean what I said earlier, I don’t know why I -- I said it to hurt you because you’re always joking about us being together, you said we were family but I thought you didn’t mean it the way I hoped and I-”

 

Regina had cut herself off but Emma heard it anyway and it stunned her that they both wanted the same thing. Sometimes things hit us out of the blue but when we look back, we see the signs that were there all along.

 

“I want us to be a family too,” said Emma with a hopeful smile. “You, me, and Henry. I want us to be together. We can have a life of our own. That’s all I could wish for. If I had more than that I’d have too much.”

 

Regina laughed softly, amazed at her. “Of course you would.”

 

“I promise we can make this happen. A second chance for both of us.”

 

Regina squeezed her eyes shut against the tears and Emma cupped her face gently. She did have a chance, one she thought she’d never have.

 

“Emma, this could go so badly if it doesn’t work out...”

 

“That’s exactly why it has to.”

 

It was so soft, like butterfly wings, Regina wasn’t sure she even felt it. Emma drew back, gazing at her intently.

 

Regina was unsuccessful at hiding the smile that broke over her face. “And you always keep your promises.”

 

“That’s right, I do,” said Emma, narrowing her eyes with a playful grin.

 

Regina shiftly awkwardly under such scrutiny, unused to the feeling. She’d lost so much recently, and gained so much more. Emma was right, it was almost too much to bear.

 

“It’ll get easier.”

 

“What - being good?” Regina made a slight moue.

 

“No,” said Emma, filling up with joy. “Being loved.”

  
  
  
  



	19. Chapter 19

 

" _Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end."_

_-John Lennon_

* * *

"Henry i's way past your bedtime. C'ya hurry it up, kid?" said Emma sleepily.

"I think he's already asleep, Emma," whispered Mary Margaret. She and her daughter were the only ones still awake (barely) with David and Henry snoozing against each other's shoulders at the other end of the couch.

It was late, sometime after midnight at Mary Margaret's apartment. They'd sat up to watch a movie on Emma's laptop but none of them had paid much attention to it, instead laughing and talking as a family until they'd lost track of time. Regina had said she would be over late but never specified what time so Emma was making a valiant effort at staying up. She'd been chatting with Mary Margaret but even so her eyes were starting to droop.

Emma and Regina were together now but taking small steps at a time. They both knew where they wanted things to go but a lot had happened between them and around them so there was plenty to talk through while they worked it out. They hadn't really told anyone about the change yet but obviously Mary Margaret knew - not because Emma explicitly said so but because she always knew everything. What was obvious to her wasn't as obvious to the others though - apparently they hadn't put two-and-two together why Emma didn't come home some nights.

Neither of them had been in a relationship before - not a real one that had a chance of lasting anyway. There was so much at stake now, they already shared a child and there was a lot of crap in the past that always threatened to rise up like smoke to choke them. Emma's support of Regina's continual efforts at redemption was a burden that was becoming lighter every day though. Things were changing for the better... and it all hung on Emma's trust. But even that heavy load was starting to feel as natural as air to them.

Predictably, they had fought and tiffed already. Like always, there only needed to be a spark between them for a fight to burst aflame. Then Emma had accused Regina of starting crap on purpose and said that she didn't need to put her promise to the test. It was going to stand. She'd called it "going all-in" and that putting everything on the line meant it was guaranteed that they always had to move forward. After that Regina couldn't keep a straight face enough to fight any longer, so the snarks and blows became touches and kisses, and for the first time one of their fights ended far more pleasurably.

They were going to grow to be a family. To have a life of their own. The past no longer had any hold on them.

There was a soft knock at the door to the apartment.

"s'open," Emma called, expecting it to be Regina finally, but in her sleep-fogged state she was confused why the brunette didn't simply come in.

When there was no answer Mary Margaret got up to check and opened the door. She eyed something at shoe-level with a wonderful smile.

"Emma, I think it's for you," said Mary Margaret enigmatically.

Groaning tiredly, Emma joined her at the door. Taking one look at the floor she peered at her mother with one bleary eye. There was a little pure-white fluffy rabbit with lop-ears sitting outside the door watching them with curious blinking eyes.

"Okaaay, either I'm already dreaming… or a white rabbit really did just knock on our door," said Emma.

"It's so adorable!" Mary Margaret cooed, her voice about two octaves higher than normal.

"Easy," warned Emma. "Step away from the woodland creature, Snow White."

Mary Margaret gave her a look. "It's just a bunny. Look it's got something under it's paw..."

Emma knelt down to retrieve a small envelope about the size of a business card from underneath the rabbit's foot. The rabbit, apparently having fulfilled it's mail duty, hopped away down the hall.

"Uh, should we go after that thing?" said Emma.

Mary Margaret chuckled. "You mean, should we follow the white rabbit? What's in the envelope, hurry up, I want to know."

"Hold ya horses," grumbled Emma, pulling the card out. "Uh, it's... oh, it looks like an invitation. Kinda."

**Un-birthday Party**

_When: Today_

_Time: Midnight_

_Where: You know where_

"It doesn't say who it's addressed to?" said Mary Margaret, hovering over her shoulder.

"No." Emma frowned, but right at that moment new words magically appeared in gold on the card.

_Who: All of you_

"Guess that answers that," said Mary Margaret, seemingly nonplussed by the apparent magic.

Emma's mouth curled up in a one-sided grin. "Yes, and it also answers who's behind this."

Emma pulled her phone out of the pocket of her pyjamas and tapped the screen to make the call. The person on the other end answered sounding slightly out of breath.

"Hey, you wanna explain?" said Emma lightly.

" _I thought the details were rather self-explanatory."_

"Okay, assuming I go along with this..." Emma paused to check her watch. "It's 12.20. According to the invitation this party has already started."

" _Then you are already late."_

A grin broke over Emma's face slowly and she hung up.

"Henry! Henry! Wake up, kid. We're late...!"

After waking Henry and David, the four of them donned shoes and coats and then squished into Emma's Bug for the short drive over to Mifflin Street.

"Um, this invitation is really weird..." said Henry, trying to read the card in the dim light of the street lights as they passed. "We're wearing our pyjamas to a party?"

"Just go with it, buddy," said David, ruffling the boy's hair.

"I have a feeling it's gonna be that sort of party, kid," laughed Emma from the driver's seat.

David and Mary Margaret were acting like co-conspirators in on the secret, the way parents went along with the mystery of Santa Claus just to bring light to children's eyes. David tried not to focus on thinking about the dearth of fantasy in Emma's childhood but he reminded himself wryly that she was certainly making up for it now by living in a magical town full of fairytale characters. He hadn't missed the way that Emma seemed to be just as excited about the party as Henry, if not more.

Emma parked in the driveway to 108 hastily and was out of the car like a shot, racing Henry to the front door of the house. Before they could knock, the door swung open by itself and the white rabbit appeared. Apparently it had beat them all the way across town.

"Cool!" said Henry.

"Hi, again," said Emma, to what she assumed was the same creature.

The rabbit crinkled it's nose and allowed Henry to pick it up.

"Uh, Regina? We're here," called Emma, as the four of them gathered in the entryway but there was no sign of the brunette.

"Mom!" Henry called to the apparently empty house. "Mo-oom?"

"It's a trap," Emma concluded jokingly. "She's lured us here to poison us all at once."

The rabbit in Henry's arms gave the blonde a disdainful stare. When Emma looked closely she saw a little cut near it's nose and leaped back comically.

"Ohhhmygod. Henry put your Mom down!" Emma shrieked.

Henry gave her a crazy look and bent to place the rabbit on the ground. The creature hopped once and then transformed into a 5"4' cloud of swirling black smoke. Standing where the white rabbit had been moments before was Regina. She was wearing white satin pyjamas with a dark grey winter robe belted around her middle.

"Sorry I'm late," said Regina smoothly.

"But wha- gah," Emma sputtered gobsmacked, as her parents failed to hide their laughter at her reaction.

"That was pretty funny," decided David.

"And slightly unnerving," said Mary Margaret.

"Not the words I would've used," muttered Emma, recovering slightly but glad to see her all the same.

"Mom! Mom! What else can you do?" said Henry, keen to see some tricks. "Can you do a shark!"

"It takes a bit of study to transform to another animal. And I'm not used to being something so... benign as a rabbit," said Regina.

"Er, do I even want to know what animal you usually favour?" asked Emma, but all she got for an answer was an enigmatic show of pearly white teeth.

Regina led the four of them into the formal dining room where her usual dark wooden table setting remained, topped with a mad array of mismatched coloured tea cups (some of them broken) and a silver tea service. All of the serving trays, however, were entirely empty of any food.

"Take a seat, but don't get too comfortable," warned Regina.

Once they sat down, the table and all of the chairs along with their seated occupants rose to hover in the air a few feet off the ground. Of course, that meant that the table tilted dangerously causing the tea things to slide randomly. Henry's face was full of wondrous amazement and the others laughed happily at the floating enchantment. Henry and Emma had had the least exposure to magic so they were the most taken by the magic of the party.

The serving trays suddenly filled up with an array of cakes and piles of sweet things. Henry and Mary Margaret spied the cinnamon tarts and bit into them with glee.

"Pass the tea, please Emma," asked Regina innocently.

Emma reached for the teapot without looking and her hand grasped empty air. Frowning, she tried again and saw the teapot stand up on it's little legs and walk out of her reach in a huff.

"Very funny. Why is it doing that?" said Emma, with something like a pout.

"I haven't the slightest idea," said Regina.

The party got underway and all of them dug into the midnight treats. Every now and again the chairs would decide it was time to move on and tipped their occupants onto the ground so they could move one place left. Regina of course slid gracefully out of her chair whereas Emma's chair practically threw her out and she landed on the floor on her ass.

"Regina! Your party is being hostile to me," complained Emma, rubbing her flannel-covered butt.

When they took their places again, Emma rocked her floating chair trying to convince it to move closer to Regina so they could talk.

"You know, since you're unemployed now... you could totally get a gig doing children's parties," said Emma.

At the look she was given, Emma went on teasing. "Come on, or maybe you could be an event planner. You have heaps of experience planning things... okay, mostly evil schemes but still."

Regina sat there and listened with amusement as Emma continued to chatter about random things with a huge smile on her face.

"Hey, guess what. Alice in Wonderland was my favourite book as a kid."

"Really."

"Yeah," said Emma happily. "I have this old battered copy that I got from one of those charity toy drives they do at Christmas time. One of the teachers at the group home I was at used to help me read it. I used to love the Cheshire cat and all the nonsense. The gloss has gone off the Jabberwocky a bit now though after having it chase my ass around the woods and nearly getting incinerated."

"I think Henry's really having a great time," said Emma, watching Henry and David have a little food-fight using eclairs for swords. "Doesn't he look happy?"

"Yes, very happy," said Regina, but she wasn't looking at her son.

"I think I've lost the 'Cool Mom' title. When you want to, you can be so-"

Emma trailed off. They were both reminded of the state of Regina and Henry's relationship when Emma had turned up in Storybrooke. Though she had loved him she hadn't always shown it well.

"I haven't always been a good mother to Henry," admitted Regina quietly.

"Hey, neither have I... But we'll probably have this parenting thing figured out by the time he's 18 right? Just in time for the next kid," joked Emma.

Green eyes met brown and their gaze held for a few beats.

"Happy un-birthday, Emma," said Regina suddenly, reaching for her hand underneath the table.

"I guess it's all our un-birthdays isn't it?" said Emma with a grin, munching on another cinnamon tart. "Happy un-birthday to you too."

The party wound down rather quickly after everyone had had enough fun with the treats. It was well after midnight and Henry was fighting sleepiness, half laying his head down on the table. Every now and again he'd wake himself up, determined not to miss anything. After his head landed in a piece of cake, Regina declared the party over for him and marched the sleepy boy upstairs to bed.

Mary Margaret and David took the opportunity to head off. At the door, Emma continued to talk to them about how great the party was.

"Did you see Henry's face when he fell in that cake? Lucky kid, getting a magic tea party!" said Emma.

Mary Margaret tilted her head at her daughter quizzically. "Emma. Wonderland is _your_ favourite book, not Henry's. Regina knows that."

"Huh?"

"The party was for you, Emma." Mary Margaret smiled at her and sighed at having to explain.

Emma closed the door on them and bolted up the stairs, taking two at a time. She swung herself around the doorjamb through Regina's bedroom door and stopped with a comical skid. She was out of breath by the time she spoke.

"You gave me a party? The party was for me!"

Regina, who was halfway through turning down the bed, gave Emma an amused look when she came running in.

"You - you used magic to do something nice. To give me something I've never had!"

"Yes, dear. Since I ruined your actual day of birth I only thought it fair."

Emma's excitement fell a little, seeing that Regina was clearly bothered by something. She wondered if all the Wonderland stuff had reminded her of the recent loss of her mother or if there was something else.

Regina went back to her task a little uncomfortable not only because of the fact that she had done something nice but because that had been a surprise to everyone. It chagrined her to be thanked for such a small thing when it did little to make up for what she had done at the height of her revenge especially since her malevolence had directly impinged upon the happiness of the one she now held dear.

It was so confusing emotionally to think about because if she _hadn't_ cast the curse then their lives would have been very different. Emma would have been raised by loving parents instead of dragging herself up. She'd be a different person really and almost certainly would never have become connected romantically to Regina. The what-if's could send your mind around the bend...

Their current happiness was all due to her own hateful actions and now that she was able to see it clearly, she couldn't resolve the dissonance. She wondered how others could overlook the fact that she was profiting from her own malfeasance. Most of all, she wondered how Emma could forgive her let alone love her.

But whenever Emma caught her thinking along these lines she'd remind her of moving forward instead of fixating on the past which no-one could do anything about.

"You've got that look on your face, Regina."

"What look?"

"That 'I'm obsessing over the past' look. We've talked about this..."

Emma gave her a small smile. "I am kinda glad to see it because it means you do feel regret - it's natural to feel that way - but don't fall so far into it that it eats you up alive ok? Guilt takes over you just like revenge if you let it."

"Still trying to save me aren't you," said Regina wryly.

"Get used to it. Cos I'm never gonna stop," Emma teased back.

Emma made her way over to Regina and grabbed her away from fussing with the linen any longer. She unbelted Regina's robe so she could put her arms around her waist feeling through the satin. Emma placed a tiny kiss on her nose and grinned in amusement because the light touch really did make it twitch - a residue of the earlier magic.

"By the way, you make a cute rabbit but seriously? If I wake up one day and there's some weird animal in that bed instead of you-"

"Are you sure you don't want me to use magic?" Regina gave her a mock-innocent face. "You've seen my glamour... I can make myself look like anyone you choose."

"Why would I even want that?" Emma laughed at how absurd that was.

"Even yourself?"

Emma's mouth dropped open and she couldn't believe she'd heard Regina even suggest that as a joke.

"I-" Emma gaped.

"I do enjoy leaving you speechless, dear. It's rather amusing."

Regina initiated the kiss, taking advantage of the moment by capturing Emma's lips and the words that had evaporated there. But Emma responded quickly, opening up to deepen the kiss further. She felt Regina's hands cup her face so she raised her own to thread fingers through silky dark hair as they kissed. When she drew back, she felt a thrill seeing Regina's eyes darken knowingly and saw that she was slightly breathless as well.

"Now who's speechless." Emma smirked.

"Emma. It feels different," said Regina with a quiet vulnerability.

"My hair? Yeah, I know. I curled it and messed it up again."

"No," Regina sighed with impatience. "I didn't mean your precious hair. I meant magic."

"I know what you meant," Emma said, kissing her cheekbone softly. "How does it feel now?"

"It's hard to explain," started Regina. "It used to pull me in... like I could only control it by giving in to it. But now..."

"You feel free of it's hold?"

Regina nodded almost imperceptibly. "I feel like I don't need it."

Emma's face crumpled in joy near tears and she wrapped her arms around Regina in a tight hug. She couldn't even put into words how happy she was to hear that someone so important to her, someone so close to her heart, was going to be ok. That after everything she had been through and had endured, and after all the people who had betrayed her trust and led her onto a dark lonely path... she was going to make it through it all. Freeing herself day by day from her past and exchanging loneliness for the happiness that comes from loving others well.

"We should tell Henry soon," suggested Regina.

Emma felt her hesitation though. "You're not worried about that are you? Cos I think he already knows..."

"He does?"

Emma rolled her eyes lightly. "Yes. The kid knows everything, I think he knew before I did. Pretty sure he's only slightly thrilled to bits. He asked me if we were going to get our happy ending."

"And what did you tell him."

"I told him the story's not over till we do."

Regina smiled, a real one full of happiness, and Emma kissed her again, joining their smiles together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who read this story and those who left kudos and comments :). I hope you liked the ending.


End file.
